


Hearts and Heroes: One Shot

by Windryder1



Category: Hearts and heroes, markiplier - Fandom, one shot - Fandom
Genre: Comatose, Drama, Dream World, Fan Game, Fanfic, Gen, Humor, Markiplier - Freeform, One Shot, Shadow - Freeform, Trapped, hearts and heroes - Freeform, markiplier fanfiction, not smut, sun - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-04-16 02:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 48,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14154525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windryder1/pseuds/Windryder1
Summary: The team - Blue, Purple, Peach, Jade, Red, and Mark - are sent on a mission set in the rpg maker game “One Shot” to rescue the person trapped within. They quickly realize what’s at stake, and that they’ll only get ‘one shot’ at this.





	1. Prologue: A Light in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> small note – not smutty, not ship-based, not set in reality, or involving reader x anyone. There is no mention of IRL people (except Jack - who is never referred to as Sean), other game names, or events that occurred IRL. This is plot, character, and story driven, and completely isolated to the world of Hearts and Heroes.
> 
> Thank you to the developers of the Markiplier fan game, “Hearts and Heroes.” It’s amazingly well created with vast attention to detail, offering up easter eggs for the fans, and giving engrossing game play for old and newcomers, along with tons of passion poured into it. It’s enough to make Markiplier cry.
> 
> I believe your game got through to him as it did to me and many, many others.  
> So thank you. And I hope you enjoy this homage to your incredible creation. I hope I can do it a modicum of justice.
> 
> This story contains strong language. Please be advised.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue. You're caught in a nightmare chased by the endless whispers of your own darkness made manifest into creatures that thrive on your negativity. You find a strange light bulb that glows when you touch it. A robot refers to it as their sun. You're so tired, running for what feels like months. You can't do this anymore. So you beg for help from the center of your soul. 
> 
> (This is the only chapter written in 1st person/present tense for artistic effect.)

  **Hearts and Heroes: One Shot**

**by Windryder1**

 

 

**PROLOGUE: A Light in the Darkness**

_Splish, splash, splish, splash…_

It’s so dark. I can only see about 5 feet in front of my face, but I keep running anyway. My muddied shoes pound the rain-slicked ground. I can hear them. They’re behind me, dogging my heels in their unrelenting pursuit. I can sense them barely out of reach, stretching out skeletal fingers hungry to snare my clothing and drag me into the cold depths...of nothing. No matter which way I turn, I can’t shake them. They won't stop chasing me. Why? Why?! Leave me alone!

Their poison words provide my only company. They’re whispering in a jumble of hushed incomprehensible chatter, but I know what they’re saying. I can piece it together through familiar plosives and syllables that find their way through the mélange to my mind–words thick with a lifetime of history and repetition.

“ _…Not enough…for anyone…anything…_ ”

“Stop it!” I scream.

They ignore me, like my voice holds no meaning. They don’t care what they’re doing to me or how loudly I scream.

They continue whispering.

I keep running.

Detritus crumbles beneath my maroon sneakers. I’m in a rock quarry dotted with mines, their gaping mouths filled with shadows and promises of terror. Every so often, I catch the edge of derelict machinery guarded by slumped-over, inactive robots. Their metal bodies hunch or lie beside unfinished tasks. Many of them are rusted over, so they must have been abandoned for a long time exposed to the elements. I feel like I’m the only living thing here, the only one breathing, and that breath is far too loud in my ears.

What’s even stranger is that it doesn’t seem necessary to breathe. Only habitual.

_Splish, splash, splish, splash…_

I spot a dull gray building matching the monochrome landscape and scramble up the metal stairs to take shelter inside. Thankfully, I can lock the deadbolt. I back away from the door and wrap my arms around myself to keep from shivering, but I fail. I’m soaking wet from the rain. I’m cold, and I think I’m hungry, though I’m not sure if I am, or if I’m simply tired. I feel like I've been running from them for days.

Those monsters are held at bay for now. I need to find a back door out of here.

Without the dim light of the outside, I’m plunged into pitch darkness. My heart races in painful anticipation of horrifying jumpscares. Creatures with fangs dripping with venom, and claws ready to shred the flesh from my bones invade my imagination. I can picture the hall ahead of me painted with blood.

I squeak softly, squinting my eyes shut. “No. No...it's not real.” Swallowing hard to gather any scrap of bravery left within my tired soul, I feel my way along the smooth, cold metal walls of the hallway. I make two turns to my left and right. The whispers find me again. I cover my ears and sink to the floor.

“No, please,” I whimper, curled up with my forehead against my wet jeans.

As if it heard me, a faint pale glow gradually bleeds into view from beneath a door at the end of the hall. It’s the consistency of a weak nightlight, but I don’t care. It’s light. That’s all that matters. I crave it so much my body can’t keep up with my desire to reach it.

I stumble forward. I try the handle. It’s unlocked. I open the door and am instantly greeted by an extremely soft yellow pinpoint of light floating within a glass orb. A thick brass knob with grooves spiraling around it like threads on a screw juts out from its side. It wasn’t on a pedestal, or presented in any formal fashion. It was simply placed on a table as if someone set it down, walked away, and forgot about it.

I step cautiously over and see that the spark isn’t floating. It’s resting on a large charcoal-colored filament jutting up from the interior of the knob. This isn’t an orb. It’s a light bulb slightly larger than my head.

I gently lift it from the table. The brass connector gives it some heft, but nothing substantial. As soon as my fingers touch the glass, the spark within gradually gains strength until the entire inside is filled with a honey-gold light.

At first, I fear it’ll burn me and nearly drop it, but to my surprise, the glass remains gently warm to the touch. I cradle it close, soaking up as much of that warmth as I can. It’s the most soothing thing I’ve felt in what seems like years.

The whispers fade away.

Its light fills the room. Aside from the table, this light bulb is the only other object in here. In games, when you find something cool like this, you can add it to your inventory. However, this isn’t a game. It's a nightmare, but it feels so real. I can use all of my senses, and see in color –things you shouldn't be able to do in a dream. It's a nightmare reality that I can't escape.

Despite the urge to hold onto the bulb, I set it back on the table with a dull ‘clink.’

The light diminishes to a pinpoint once more.

Curious, I pick it up again. The light swells back to its comforting brightness. Who would leave this sitting in an abandoned building? This seems important. If I can find the person this belongs to I’ll return it. Until then, I hope they won’t mind me using it as a flashlight. It’s too dark outside, and I’m still shivering from fear.

I pull the sleeves of my blue hoodie down over my hands to comfortably carry the bulb and leave the room. Yellow light fills the perfectly clean hallways as I walk back to the front door.

I reach out to unlock the deadbolt, but pause. This bright light source will give away my position to those creatures. I hesitate, but bite my lip in acceptance. I’ve been running from them for so long. I’ll take any chance to see them approaching and have time to escape rather than be trapped in the darkness with the unknown. Even with this decision made, I can’t bring myself to open the door.

A bubble of light surrounds me from the bulb, illuminating everything in a 10 foot radius. I vaguely notice a pale pink glow from my left peripheral. It’s so faint, that the light from the bulb swallows it up, but it remains.

I catch a shimmer of reflection from the corner and snap my attention to it in dread. It’s a robot slumped over a desk with scattered paperwork half completed. Orders and shipping manifests, repair sheets and schedules are left unsigned and yellowing from age. I exhale after a few tense seconds, though my heart takes longer to calm down. I step forward to get a closer look.

Blue and red lights blink to life on the robot. So much for my heart calming down. I let out another squeak and freeze in place as it whirs and birs to life. Its eye sockets flicker as power returns to its circuits. It doesn’t move other than to swivel its head to affix me in its mechanical gaze.

I stare back with wide, terrified green eyes. My knees feel weak.

“[YOU HAVE THE SUN],” its monotone voice fills the room. “[AND IT LIVES.]”

“The…sun?” I manage to stammer.

It raises its arm. “[YOU MUST TAKE IT. RETURN IT.]”

I back up against a pillar. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-!” The edge of the light leaves the robot, but it seems that’s all it takes for its power to die and its body to hunch over once more. The lights on its angular, bulky frame wink out.

“The sun… Return it where? I don’t know what that means.” I slide to the floor and curl my body around the light bulb. A tear slips down my face. Those monsters are out there waiting to attack as soon as I leave this room. I can’t do it. I can't face them anymore. I can still hear them whispering.

I shouldn’t be the one to hold something as important as this, even if I am simply returning it. This task should go to someone with bravery, confidence, talent, skill --someone who’s good enough. Someone…

…who isn’t me.

“Dammit.” My voice trembles audibly. I lower my forehead to rest on the light bulb’s smooth surface and cry out in my heart…

_Help… Someone help me….please._

 

\--------------------------  
TBC

 


	2. Weekend Warriors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Markihub.  
> Setting up for a new mission, but something doesn't sit right with Mark...

_The dream world. Recreation room of the Markihub..._

“Hah! Connect 4! I win. You loose. Time to pay the piper, old man,” Mark waggled his fingers in the direction of the pink-mustached gentleman frowning at him across the small game table. “And by 'piper,' I mean me, and by 'old man,' I mean you.”

Wilford Warfstache speared a metallic disk that resembled a poker chip with a dagger and pointed it at his competitor. “You win this round, Markiboy.”

“What do you mean ‘this round? You lost to me 5 times in a row,” Mark’s lack of intimidation shown through in a victorious smirk. “I am the King of Connect 4. You knew this when you challenged me.”

“It’s not very sporting of you to mock the loser, Mark. There could be…pointy repercussions.”

Mark adopted a perfectly mirrored mannerism with a red game token between two fingers. “And it’s not very sporting to back out of a bet in a gentleman’s game, Warfy. You’ve racked up quit a tab, my good man. Are you going to pony up, or do you…not have the brass?”

Wilford huffed air across his bushy mustache. “Your blatant misuse of a euphemism for the dangly bits of the vulnerable nether region only shows your lack of proper upbringing.”

He dropped the impression. “Oh yeah? Well, what would you say?”

Wilford leaned back, idly playing with the disk on the end of the blade. “I’d simply take it outside and battle it out in fisty-cuffs mano-a-mano and end with a shooty to the face.”

Mark blinked behind his slim black-framed wire glasses. “You call that better?”

“I call it effective.”

He shrugged. “Eh. Can’t argue there.”

“Much as I’d like to stay and chew the fat, I have business to attend to.” Wilford stretched his arms over his head, dagger and all, and stood. “This has been a bully of a time. ‘GG,’ as the kids say.”

“Hold it, Speedy McDodgerson,” Mark held out his hand. “The Dream Points. You owe me 500.”

Wilford wordlessly flicked the dagger with the disk speared through into the table in front of him, gently rattling the remaining game tokens.

Mark removed the disk and peered through the hole. “Hey, this is only 300!”

“Compensation for the dagger,” Wilford waved it off as he walked away.

“Compen—What kind of dagger costs 200 DrP?! Who's your supplier, anyway?!”

“It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mark. Come around again soon.” And with that, the weaponsmonger escaped back to his shop of damage-dealing goodies.

“Mother f—“ Mark ground his teeth. Wilford had this planned the whole time. “Grifted by a stab-happy madman in pink suspenders. Story of my life.”

Even though he was dreaming, and knew he was dreaming, Markiplier didn't have control over what anyone else did in this hub. This constant, safe haven in the dream world was one of who-knew-how-many in existence. It was home to those bearing a glowing pink heart on their left sleeve: the mark of the hero. Even if they arrived in a tank top, the heart remained, proving that it was imprinted on the soul of the person, and would shine through no matter what they wore.

This hub --ingeniously deemed 'The Markihub' --technically belonged to him, though he hadn't heard anyone else refer to it as that besides himself. But who cares! This was his hub, so he could call it whatever he damn well pleased. He could call it the 'Hub-booski' and no one could object. ...Actually, that one wasn't that bad. He'd put it in his mental 'save' file for later...just in case. He and the permanent residents had a little more power than the others who came and went, but other than that, everyone moved around with the same level of free will.

He turned the silver dagger over in the light, then shrugged and lazily swiped his middle finger—for emphasis on this particular situation—down the air at chest height in time to a half-second thought-command of ' _menu_.' As predicted, the commonly used and familiar, semi-transparent menu screen popped up. He tapped on the 'Items' option listed at the top –right above 'Go Home,' the teleporter back to the hub. As a Hero Class, he was the only one here with this option. It could be extracted and given to anyone, but not replicated. This was listed above 'Wake Up' (akin to Log Out), 'Current Mission' (basic mission briefing info), and 'Party' (self explanatory with sub categories like ‘add,’ ‘leave,’ and ‘member details’).

He added this new item to his inventory under ‘weapons.’ The dagger evaporated in his hand. At that exact moment, its icon and name appeared on the short list.

“'Fate Sealer.' Ballsy name. Hopefully damage-causing enough for the price.” It might come in handy later during a rescue mission. It was a crying shame this mechanic didn't exist in the waking world. That would make carrying things much easier. He'd hack into it and add in a 'Skip Rush Hour Bullshit' option.

The second bell sent its low tone through the recreation room. A few people hanging out with their teammates got up to attend to the second shift. He left with them to pick up a few more supplies before the third bell rang signaling the third shift – his shift.

He heard the 'fwoosh!' of the portal opening to someone's dream as he passed through the center of the hub on his way to Octodad's store. The midshift teams waited patiently to go through when their assigned mission came up. A few fidgeted from nervousness.

“Good luck guys!” He called out to them. “And remember: I'm handsome. And don't you forget it.”

Some of them chuckled. Others rolled their eyes. Either way, he got them to relax a little before setting off on a mission. Objective: cleared.

He used the newly obtained DrP to stock up on mostly Ultra balls—per usual—a couple of full hearts, chicken and dumplings (those long missions can get rough, man), some hot sauce in case anyone passed out, and a piece of toast. Just one. He hated using that item with a clear and absolute passion, but something nagged at him to walk away with at least one today.

Being the dream world, everyone here was instructed to pay closer attention to said 'naggy feels,' due to one not-so-simple but obvious reason: They weren't physically here. They were spirits, souls, consciousness. Whatever label people wanted to put to it, that was them. So stuff with the physical body didn't matter here –except eating. Whatever you ate upped energy or gave you boosts in battle with their enemy, the Terrorlings. When someone gets the urge to say 'I have a bad feeling about this,' it's a good idea not to ignore it, because it's coming from their subconscious that's being a douche and not letting their spirit in on the whole plan.

Mark added the goods to his inventory, bid the 8 armed bad-human-cosplaying octopus adieu, and left.

“Hey, Mark!” A high pitched voice called out from across the hall.

“Hey, Tim. What's up, little buddy?” He looked down at his feet as the small sentient brown wooden box bobbled over.

“Good, I caught you. It's about your mission.”

“What about it?”

“You're not going alone, are you?”

“No. I've got my team.”

Tim smiled. “So you decided to quit playing solo after all?”

He shrugged. “Hey, I don't play 'solo.' I join newbies and whatever team needs help, you know that.”

“But you never called any of them 'my team' before.”

“Eh, well, they were the ones to dive into my nightmare and pull my ass out of the fire. I owe 'em. Besides, they're good people. It's not so bad being on a team. Kinda takes me back to my roots.”

Although he had his original team that always aided him in the waking world, they, too, had obligations to their own hubs in the dream world. He loved it when they could get together for those rare group missions, though.

His new team here adopted him. He wasn’t an elitist outsider tagging along. He was one of them, subjected to the same rules as they were (almost—well, he is the only Hero Class after all), but shockingly enough, he wasn’t the team leader. He had to abide by the leader’s ultimate decision like everyone else. “Anyway, is there something you need help with?

Tim held up a piece of paper. “I checked the file just in case I'd need to prep for higher damage injuries. Nothing really dangerous popped out at me, but I noticed something weird. I pulled the hard copy to make sure. Look at the initiation date.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Hm? One year ago? This is a typo. The month and day are the same.”

“That's what I thought, too. I checked it with Google. He said he doesn't make typos.”

Mark pursed his lips. “Mmhmm. Sure. Right. Uh huh. Ok. Yeah. Ask him about Google Feud next time.”

“But—”

“Relax. It'll be fine.” It was then that the upward look of concern from Tiny Box Tim surpassed the surface of 'this could be a dangerous mission,' into more poignant territory with years of personal history behind it. Mark crouched down and patted him lightly on top of his head...er...body, and his voice took on a sincere, disarming tone. “ _I'll_ be fine. Don't worry, little buddy. This looks rough on the outside, but it’s gooey in the middle. My team and I can handle it. We've been through worse.”

Tim took the paper back when Mark handed it over and looked up as the other stood, towering over him. “Mmm…Ok. But I still have a bad feeling about this. You’re not completely back to normal yet. You went through something not a lot of people can come back from. It’s only been a few weeks, and PAX stretched you thin.”

“Hey, give me a little credit here. I’m a lot better off than I was.”

“That’s true,” Tim had to agree. “And I’m proud of you for that.” He knew Mark had an excellent support system in the waking world. He was recovering, and thankfully, those who knew him and even those who didn’t, flooded his notifications with positive messages.

The ‘Mark’ that returned to an empty hub the next night after he’d defeated Dark just sat on the stage staring at all the vacant seats once filled with the souls of those who believed in their missions, and in him. Tiny Box Tim, as his first Somni and closest to him, was the only resident of the hub to remain. He could sense Mark’s raw, eviscerated state. He was a mess. Because of the negativity flooding the hub, Mark wondered if anyone would even want to come back at all. Tim assured him that they would. They’d sat alone in silence until five people suddenly appeared at the back of the room. Both of them hadn’t expected anyone to show up for a while yet, but he could tell his friend was happy that it was the five who’d saved him. Mark saw them off on their mission, but didn’t leave on his own until a few days later when Blue extended the offer to join her team for the third time. He’d accepted. He had a duty to the hub, to the people who’d found their way back, and most importantly to himself to move forward. A little bit of ‘fuck you’ energy was all he needed to give him that essential push.

“Just do me a favor and be extra careful, ok, Mark?”

“You got it. We'll be in and out with time to spare. It'll be easy-peazy-lemon-squeeze-me.”

The tiny box boy didn't look any less placated by that answer.

A slim pillar of sky-blue luminescence swirled up from the floor in the main room lasting the length of a second. The figure of a teenage girl in a knee-length blue dress and knee socks materialized within its apex.

“Hey, Blue.” Mark cast Tiny Box Tim a reassuring nod before joining his teammate.

“Oh, hey, Mark.” She smiled. Seeing her other team member, and the leader of the hub they called a second home, warmed her heart every time. She still wasn't sure why he acquiesced to her being this particular team's leader—she was ready to give up the title after extending the offer to join her team--, but she respected and appreciated his faith in her. “Where's everyone else?”

“Not here yet. You are numero uno.”

“I hope they get here soon. I was afraid I'd be late. We all decided this would be the weekend we'd go full throttle and do as much as we can.”

“You're all sleeping in?” Mark folded his arms.

Blue nodded. “That's the plan. Also fixing our sleep schedules, too. Those last few missions really threw off Peach. She blew up the group chat at 3am last night binge watching an anime Jade suggested. Went through a whole box of Cinnamon Squares.”

“Yikes.”

The areas to their left and right lit up from three more identical shifting columns of light.

Red stretched his arms over his head and yawned. Tufts of black hair stuck out from beneath his favorite, worn, red cotton beanie.

Purple waved softly to everyone with a small smile and a light, “I'm not late. Yay!”

Peach danced lightly on her tip toes. “This is gonna be the best weekend ever! I cleared all my plans to make sure I could get to bed early each night.”

“What about that show you were watching?” Blue asked.

“I finished it this morning,” she sound proudly.

Red eyed her like she'd grown a second head. “This morning? As in...'before-the-butt-crack-of-dawn' this morning?”

She nodded, still smiling. “It was so good. The feels alone!”

Purple furrowed her brow in concern. “How many boxes of cereal did you eat in the past few days?”

“I don't know, but we're out, now.” She shrugged.

The group exchanged glances, and an unspoken agreement that their weather mage's sleep schedule needed to be fixed first.

The quick 'woosh' of a pillar of light formed just outside the group. Their last team member's form appeared. “You guys are already here?” Jade stepped into the nearest open space.

“We were just waiting on you,” Mark said casually.

“I watched the whole show,” Peach's smile never disappeared. “It's so good!”

Jade's face lit up. “I know, right?”

“Please tell me there's a season 2.”

“Hell yeah! Who's your favorite?”

“I like them all! But mostly the guy with the—“

“I know you're excited, but we have a mission to go on. We gotta focus,” Blue interrupted.

“Right, right,” Peach settled down, “Sorry.”

“Ok. Everybody take five to get what you need, then meet back here. Sound good?” Blue said.

Everyone nodded and scattered to refill their supplies. A few minutes later, they returned to the main room of the hub and gathered at the wide-open area in front of the portal's spawn point. Peach and Jade took their places last, having talked about their new favorite in-common show as much as they could before embarking.

The bell for the third shift echoed its low tone through the hall, alerting everyone in the hub. People appeared within columns of light, and some filtered in from the surrounding rooms.

“That's our cue,” Red cracked his neck. “Let's do this.”

The air crackled ahead of them. A dark vortex formed from a point no larger than a thumbnail and quickly blossomed out to form a dark blue, violet, and black event horizon wide enough to easily encompass two people standing shoulder to shoulder. Its center was thick and black as ink, swirling as if time itself gave way to the will of the universe.

The first time they saw this, everyone—including Mark—felt trepidation. They were both excited and afraid to step through into the unknown. This portal created a wormhole connection into one person's dream, like an Einstein-Rosen bridge in space, but within the ethereal and mailable dream world that seemed to punt physics out the window.

Sometimes the sight of this incredible phenomenon struck him with awe at what it could do, and what it allowed him and many others to accomplish: saving the spirits of those crying out for help.

The waking world knew nothing of this.

Mark turned his back on the portal to address the team. “Normally I'd say this is one where we can go in for the snipes and be back by lunch. It seems pretty cut and dry, but...” he glanced in the distance to the hall leading to the infirmary. Regardless of his own machismo, hearing Tim say 'I have a bad feeling about this' was rare, and didn't sit well in his gut –like that ghost pepper. What the hell was he thinking? “...just remember not to let your guard down, ok? It may look tame, but very often it's a rouse; A cleaver, dubious rouse. As dubious as rouses get.”

“I don't care what it 'do,' it 'be us' who take it down,” Jade thumbed toward themselves. “We're pros. We got this. Now let's go kick some Terrorling ass!” They jumped through the portal with a loud battle cry, 'Lerooy Jenkins!'

Peach followed with a light 'woohoo!' and leaped in.

Red simply face palmed at his companions and stepped through.

“Whoever you are, don't worry,” Purple set her jaw in determination, “We'll find you.” And with that resolve steeling her bravery, she leaped through after her friends.

Blue and Mark stepped up last. “You seem a little out of it, Mark. Everything all right?”

“What, me? Nah, it's good. It's all gravy. We can take whatever this nightmare throws at us. Let's start off the weekend with a bang!”

Blue grinned at the animated finger guns and quickly knelt down at a small hole off to the side in the wall. A few tiny mouse sounds emitted from it. She smiled. “Squeaks for luck,” then gave him a thumbs up and jumped through the portal. She trusted her friends—all of them. They'll save this person and be on to the next mission before they knew it.

Mark followed through. The portal closed, locking them into the connection to the other person's nightmare. It quickly reset for the next team.

Though he had confidence in his team, he still couldn't shake Tim's warning. Something about this mission might go tits up if they weren't prepared. Mark, as a veteran of rescuing people in the dream world, knew that all too well. This one, however...felt different.

And that worried him most of all.

 

 

\-----------------------------  
TBC

 


	3. Something’s Suspishy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's something different about this nightmare that has all of them on edge. They find out which game they're in, and spot their mission target carrying the sun. But getting to them is going raise more problems and questions.

_Inside the nightmare..._

The trip through the connection took longer than usual, but gave their eyes enough time to adjust. Thanks to that, and the outlines of the glowing pink hearts on their sleeves, the six dream travelers could discern the topography of the immediate area where the portal spit them out.

Rocks.

Dirt.

More rocks and dirt.

“I can’t see shit,” Red’s eyes widened to try to take it any additional light, but failed.

“Why is it so dark?” Peach spoke up, mirroring everyone’s thoughts. “Not even the forests we’ve been through have been this dark, and there aren’t even any stars.” The sky—if there was a sky—seemed like nothing more than a thick black curtain enclosing this world. It gave her a slight sense of claustrophobia and she felt trapped. She never realized until now how much value the stars in the waking world held. She would never take them for granted again.

“Oh! I have an idea.” Purple called up her menu window to retrieve her staff from her inventory. The sudden glow made everyone squint and groan in pain. She closed it instantly and clutched her weapon.

“Jeeze, Purple, what are you trying to do? Burn our eyes out?” Jade snapped.

“Yeah, thanks, Purple,” Red grumbled.

“Sorry! I didn’t know it would be so bright.”

“It’s not her fault, guys. It was a good idea. Bad idea in hindsight, but good try.” Mark blinked repeatedly to get the imprint of the screen out of his vision. “I’m gonna be seeing yellow squares for days.”

Blue rubbed at her eyes. “Guess we can’t use the menu screens for light. We need our weapons, though. Everyone, bring up your menu one at a time, but warn us first so we can close our eyes.”

They did so. Each person retrieved their favorite weapon one after the other until the party was sufficiently armed.

“Where the hell are we?” Red’s shoes crunched in the gravel and dirt as he moved cautiously forward with the group at his side. His palm tightened around the handle of his sword. In this bleak, heavy atmosphere, Terrorlings could jump out at them at any second.

An azure light so faint it could barely be called ‘illumination’ bathed the landscape up ahead in a pathetic pale tint.

Blue walked up to its source and knelt down at the edge of a pond. Thousands of specs of phosphorescence moved within the black water. “Guys, check it out.” She scooped some up into her hand. Her skin glowed as she let a thin stream of the pale blue liquid pour back into the pond.

“What is that stuff?” Jade knelt next to her to dip their fingertips in the water. Their touch sent ripples outward.

“Looks like some kind of glowing algae or something,” Blue guessed. “I think we found the only source of light around here.”

“Does algae move?” Jade scooped some up to peer closely at it. “Because this stuff is moving.”

Peach leaned over their shoulder. “Looks like tiny shrimp. I’ve heard of living creatures in the ocean giving off bioluminescence in deeper waters before. These must be the same.”

“Maybe we can use it to see. Anybody have anything we can scoop some of this up into?” Blue stood.

“We’d have to check our inventories,” Mark said. “I don’t want to bring any additional attention to ourselves if we haven’t been spotted by Terrorlings yet. Nothing says, 'attack me!’ like a personal sun shoved in your face.”

Red scratched the side of his neck. “Maybe we shouldn’t be messing with the inter-dimensional amoebas anyway.”

“They’re shrimp.” Jade argued.

“Same difference.”

Peach snapped her fingers as Jade stood and dried their hands off on their pants. “I just remembered! Purple, you were in the library before our last mission, right? You said something to me about new spells you were learning.”

Her eyes widened above a wide grin. “Oh yeah! I completely forgot. Watch this.” She held her staff out and closed her eyes –not that it would make much of a different as far as vision went. A few soft words left her lips, and at the same time she felt the slight energy pull from her body—or rather, her spirit—needed to activate the spell. A small opalescent orb swirled into formation at the end of her staff, settling there as if perched like a bird. It’s diameter was no wider than her hand, but it cast a much more gentle glow around the small party. The light’s edge fuzzed out about 10 feet around them. This was highly preferable to the harsh eye-stabbing beams of pain emitted by their menu windows. “Pretty cool right?”

“White mage. Duh. Nice trick, Gandolf. Now we can see,” Jade admitted.

They took in their surroundings, though the addition of new light didn’t give them fuzzy feelings about where they were. They moved forward along the path, and in single file across a narrow land bridge with Purple in the lead as their headlight. An endless dark abyss plunged to either side. She shivered from fear, though knowing her friends were there kept her legs moving.

Her shoe crumpled something smooth. She yelped and scampered forward a few steps.

Mark bent to pick it up. “It’s a sheet of paper. Purple, bring the light over.” The others gathered around him as he smoothed out the wrinkles. Age stains pockmarked along its dirty, lined surface, indicating this was not a freshly scribed letter. He read off its contents in the pale light.

“ _'The sun will not return, and the abyss is calling my name. I’m sorry, everyone…for choosing to leave before the darkness suffocates us all.'_ ”

“Was this written by the person trapped here?” Peach asked.

“I don’t think so. It looks old, like it’s been here for months. It could be from someone who’s from the dream world. Maybe another Somni class.” He frowned.

“That’s sad,” Jade muttered.

Mark gently laid the paper back where they found it –someone’s last reminder, last penned moments of hope. The Somni class beings lived in the dream world. Wilford, Tiny Box Tim, Octodad, and Google belonged to this class. They couldn’t ever leave to the waking world. It saddened him to think that the ones in this part, perhaps the egos of this person, couldn’t see any other way out. It’s like they were faced with knowing their world here was going to end and nothing was going to come save them.

“Come on,” he urged the team to continue with their mission, and walked away from the forlorn letter of lost hope, leaving it forever alone in the darkness.

They reached an open area beside rusted train tracks disappearing into a mine to their left and followed the tracks away from the maze of caves. The broken remnants of the rock quarry leaked the sense of decay and abandonment into the atmosphere.

“Wow. It looks like someone wrecked this place like it owed them money,” Red stated.

They faced down a line of cookie-cutter, slate-gray, two-storied buildings flanking a stick-straight path. The party cautiously walked through the center of the lane, keeping sharp eyes out at the open doors of the buildings. Rusted over robots slumped against each other, up against the buildings, and in mid step. Aside from a slight cold breeze, their shuffled footfalls were the only sounds.

“There’s nothing here but robots,” Purple glanced around. “Where are all the people? It’s like they packed up and split; just abandoned everything.”

Blue rested her hand on a mining cart filled with ore. She picked up a palm-sized rock. “Weird. Who would leave all this here and why? What got 'em so spooked that they just shut this place down?”

“I don’t like this,” Peach clutched her staff tightly, ready to call on her weather magic.

“Yeah, it’s quiet,” Mark’s eyes darted from side to side. “Too quiet. This is coming from someone who plays way too many horror games, but I’ve seen this before. You’re lured into a false sense of security by the lack of background music and then suddenly—”

“[HELLO, PERSON]”

The group let out a collective scream that echoed off the buildings.

A robot off to their right at the end of the line in front of one small building swiveled its torso toward them. Blue lights blinked off and on along its body.

“Holy Fuck, don’t do that!” Red yelled. He had his sword gripped in both hands, ready to slice through the robot.

“Oh my god, my heart!” Purple willed herself to calm down. How did that jumpscare not wake everyone up?

It remained stationary. Beside it rested a portable solar battery and a small jar filled with glowing shrimp to power it. Since none of the other robots were active, this cell activated this single robot alone.

The robot continued in a friendly voice. [MY APOLOGIES FOR STARTLING YOU.]

“Who the hell are you?” Jade demanded, holding both blades out. “You’d better keep your hands where we can see 'em.”

“[I AM RM-2482247. MY PURPOSE IS TO INSTRUCT ALL LIVING PERSONS TO EVACUATE THE BARRENS.]

“The Barrens?” Blue asked. “Did you see anybody else come through here?”

“[ONE LIVING PERSON CARRYING OUR SUN. I DIRECTED THEM TO LEAVE THE BARRENS AS WELL.]

“Your sun? What do you mean?” Peach asked.

“[OUR SUN WENT OUT LONG AGO. THE ENERGY IN THE BARRENS IS NEARLY DEPLETED. BIOLOGICAL LIFE WILL NOT BE SUPPORTED AT THAT TIME. IT IS IMPERITIVE THAT ALL LIVING PERSONS EVACUATE THE BARRENS.]

“Which way did the other person go?” Jade held out one blade.

“[TO THE EAST.]”

“How long ago?” they pushed.

“[ALL LIVING PERSONS MUST EVACUATE THE BARRENS.]”

“Yeah. You said that. But how long ago?”

“[ALL LIVING PERSONS MUST EVACUATE THE BARRENS.]”

Jade lowered the blades with a frustrated sigh. “Great. It loops.”

“I guess we go east. Hopefully we’ll find some answers.” Mark led them forward. “Onward once more into the breach!”

Peach tapped Purple on the shoulder. The shorter girl jumped slightly. “Are you ok?”

“Y-yeah. Just spooked.” A breath shuddered from her lips. “I don’t know why, but this place gives me the super heeby-jeebies. It’s different from the other dreams somehow.”

“I know what you mean.” She got that same vibe, too. Peach wrapped her fingers around her friend’s free hand. “I’ll stay by you. We’ll be fine.”

Purple relaxed a little and smiled softly. Were it not for the strength of her friends, she wouldn’t have set foot in this nightmare alone.

The group stayed together, winding along the paths that snaked through the dilapidated compound around rock outcroppings, discarded equipment, and broken down robots. They came to a crossroads and chose to go left into a small valley peppered with vents spewing smoke into the air.

Red started coughing, as did the others. “Anybody else find it harder to breathe?”

“Yeah,” Blue coughed. Her lungs tightened. “The air…it’s…suffocating…”

Red alert bells rang through Mark’s head. That shouldn’t happen in the dream world. They could go almost everywhere and not have to worry about atmospheric changes affecting them here. They only breathed out of instinctual habit from being alive. If the tighteneing sense in his chest was any indication, this had 'bad news bears’ written all over it. “Everyone. Back… to the…compound!”

Hacking and coughing, the group quickly rushed out of the valley and back to the crossroads, heading down to the right this time. Thankfully, breathing became much easier.

“Is everybody ok?” Blue swallowed hard and leaned on her knees. She got mumbled confirmations from the group.

“That was weird,” Peach adjusted the hijab around her neck like it would free her airway.

“Yeah. That was a first,” Mark caught his breath.

“Seriously?” Red’s eyebrows knit together. “There should have been some kind of warning. Like a 'Do not enter - Deadly gas area’ sign if that robot was so concerned about living people.”

“This isn’t our world, Red,” Blue reminded him. “That gas shouldn’t have affected us at all.”

“Then why does it feel real, huh?” He shot back. “This place is different. Something’s not right here and everyone can feel it. Mark, why the fuck didn’t you warn us before coming here?”

“Because that’s not supposed to happen,” Mark defended. “And you have the same mission briefing I do.”

Blue pushed in between them. “Both of you, stop it. You know we have to piece together what’s going on in every dream we go into. Yes, this place is an 11 on the super WTF scale, but can we have one mission where we don’t fight, please?”

The two glared at each other, but huffed in compliance. Blue was their leader. Regardless of Mark’s Hero class ranking, or Red’s stubborn sense, they both promised a while ago to respect her status. That didn’t mean it would be easy. Here and now, they were all equals, no one person better than the other.

Several shadows shifted at the edge of the light. One of them skimmed close enough for them to get a glimpse of its wraith-like, hollow facial features sunken into the shredded edge of a hood.

“Terrorlings,” Purple stepped back.

“Proxies.” Jade pushed her into the center of the group. “Stay in the middle. We need to be able to see to kick their asses, and you’re our light bulb.”

Peach readied her weapon and her spells. “We’ll make sure none of them reach you. Can you give us more light?”

Purple nodded and added more power to the white sphere.

“Can we fight these guys, boss?” Red shot her a snide glance.

Blue held up her hammer and smirked slightly. “These guys we can smash.”

Red clenched his teeth in a grin, ready for battle. “Good. They’re mine.” He charged in first, cutting his blade upward across the chest of a lanky, blood-stained, hoodie-wearing wraith. It shrieked, swiping its hands at him, but he rounded back, added fire to his blade and sent the nightmare creature up in flames.

The added flickering orange light exposed eight more enemies running in from the sides, like demons skulking out of the pit of hell.

They formed a protective circle around Purple, who raised her staff up high to give her friends as much light advantage as possible.

Mark sent three to the ground with a powerful jab to their chests and upper cuts to their jaws.

Peach’s flying side kick connected with another, flooring it. Staying in a crouched position, she aimed her staff at her target and commanded a blast of raw elemental energy straight through it to one behind it.

Blue wielded her hammer like a baseball bat. The heavy strike broke a Proxie’s torso. One more downward strike burst it into thin clouds of smoke that zipped away to reform.

Red and Jade tag teamed to take down three more. Jade, being fast on their feet, shifted easily around, ducked to avoid its attempt at a bear hug, and sliced it up from the back. Another snared their leg from behind and pulled them to the ground. Breathe hitched in Jade’s throat as the Terrorling’s clawed hand raked across their chest. It left three slashes through the white cotton fabric.

Red let out a battle cry, diving into the middle of the fight and sliced the Proxie in half. It evaporated into the darkness as a Shadowling, scurrying away to regenerate.

“I had it,” Jade argued out of habit, one hand pressed over their chest. They knew their physical body was asleep in the waking world, but that still hurt.

“Yeah, yeah,” Red helped his friend to their feet. He called up his menu and withdrew a half heart from his inventory, then pressed it against the wound without giving the other time to object. The item emitted a soft crimson glow as it sank into Jade’s body, leaving a pale outline beneath their skin. The healing power repaired the damage and their clothes. All traces of the item vanished.

“I was fine,” Jade frowned.

“You’re welcome.” Red accepted his friend’s form of a 'thank you.’ He knew the other found it hard to ask for help. His way of dealing with that was a very blunt ‘I’m healing your ass, so shut up.’

A handful of Terrorlings comprised of Shadowlings, Proxies, and Gooplings crept in from the darkness.

“Where are all these things coming from?” Peach sent out a wave of weather magic, sending some of the Gooplings to their maker. “It’s like we walked into a nest.”

Whelp, they’d been spotted, so fuck it. “Everyone. Fall in!” Mark commanded. He quickly pulled up his menu screen, hit the item inventory and tapped on an icon twice. The window disappeared as he held out both hands. A black and yellow-striped sphere materialized in each palm. He cambered his arms back and chucked the items into the crowd of Terrorlings to the right and left. “Zapdoses! Go!”

The ultra balls popped open before they hit the ground. Massive, yellow electric birds exploded from each one and ripped their pure elemental power through the Terrorling horde. The area lit up like day in quick strobe effects to the evaporation of every enemy it touched.

After a moment, the lightning attacks ended, and returned their world to Purple’s white bubble of protective light.

“Whoa, nice!” Jade spun the dual assassin blades and put them back in the twin wrist holsters.

“Like bowling for buzzards,” Purple lowered her staff.

“Lion King,” Blue side high-fived her friend. Musical reference? Hell yeah.

Mark folded his arms in a confident lean. “I know how to handle my balls.”

Blue face palm, and Peach blushed. The others chuckled.

“Let’s go before more decide to join the party,” Blue wandered east as instructed by the stationary robot with her team at her side. Purple took up her position as headlight once more.

The more they continued through the Barrens, the more they started noticing clusters of ebony squares fluctuating in the air, the ground, and even the rocks. Each one was the size of an average human.

“What are those? They look like glitches,” Purple noted.

Blue frowned. The areas of those black squares completely degraded away. “This whole place looks like it’s falling apart. Like…it’s dying.”

A serious weight fell over the group. That same sense had touched every one of them.

No one said a word until they reached the shore of a vast lake…or ocean…or river. There was no way to know how far it stretched without a more powerful light source.

“Hm?” She stepped up to the edge of water and squinted. It’s inky liquid lapped across her shoes. “Hey, guys? Do you see that?”

The team gathered around her and peered. Sure enough, a tiny sphere of golden light dyed the water a honey-yellow luminescence in the distance.

“What is that? Is that them?” Jade automatically capped their hand over their eyes as if it would activate mega zoom vision.

“That robot said the person it saw was carrying this world’s sun,” Peach recounted. “It doesn’t look like the size of a sun, but it’s definitely the color of one. And it’s moving away.”

“That’s really far out there,” Mark noted.

“Screw that shit. I’m not swimmin’ that.” Jade folded his arms.

Blue’s eyes widened and she swept brown hair out of her face. “Guys, I think I know what game this is.”

All attention shifted to her.

“We’re in One Shot.

“Oh yeah,” Red gestured in thought. “The robots, all that talk about the sun, and someone carrying it, those glowing shrimp, the way this place feels like it’s covered in eight layers of depression… It makes sense.”

“I remember that game!” Peach exclaimed. “It was so cool. It broke the 4th wall and involved the player.”

“You didn’t remember this, Mark?” Blue turned the honest question to her teammate, who held the stunned expression one carries when all the keys suddenly click into place in a puzzle.

It only lasted a second before he glanced upward and rubbed the back of his neck in agreement that he screwed up. “Markiplier apologizes for that oversight. Markiplier should have a better memory of these things.”

Red folded his arms. “Yes. Yes, Markiplier should.”

“Well, you do play a ton of games,” Purple shrugged. “You can’t be expected to remember them all. Plus, playing a game and being in one are completely different.”

“Thank you.” He appreciated that at least one person was on his side and remembered that he’s just a guy, just a person like them. He did remember that game, now, and that it was a cool experience to play.

“So how are we going to get out there?” Blue asked, turning back to the body of water. “We still have to save them.”

“Hey guys, check it out!” Jade called them over, waving their arm in the air. “I found something!”

The party hurried over.

Jade stood proudly at the base of a short wood-plank dock with their arms akimbo and their back to the waters. They gestured broadly to their left. “Bu-Bam! You can thank me by buying me all the games on my wish list.”

Just a step away bobbed a small open-air boat that rode the low waves listlessly in place adjacent to the dock. There didn’t appear to be any ropes securing it from drifting away. Built in at its helm sat the torso, arms, and head of robot that didn’t seem to register their presence. A red fisherman’s cap rested between dual antennae, and a battery pack and jar of sapphire glimmering shrimp secured in a cutout within its chest. Its builder even wrapped a warm red scarf around its 'neck.’

“Let’s see if it’s sea worthy first.” Red tapped his foot against its head.

The robot whirred to life. Its eyes lit up. “[GREETINGS, PERSONS. I AM ROWBOT #314. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE?]”

“Yeah,” Blue answered. “Can you follow that light out there?”

The robot’s head swiveled 180 degrees, 'blinked,’ and turned back to them in a full 360-degree motion. “[THAT IS MY COUNTERPART, ROWBOT #310. THEY ARE A SINGLE OCCUPANT FERRY. THEY CARRY THE PERSON WHO WILL RETURN OUR SUN! OF COURSE I CAN LOCK ONTO #310’s COORDINATES.]”

“Cool.” She hopped down into the boat. It bobbed from her motion. The aquatic transportation was small, but all six could fit inside, albeit it a little cramped.

“Oh,” Jade drew out the syllable as the word play dawned on him, “I get it. Row-Bot,” they laughed. “Puns.”

Peach groaned as she settled in next to Blue. Dad jokes: the worst.

“You guys go ahead,” Mark pulled up his menu and tapped the 'Go Home’ tab. “I’m going home to try to find out more about this dream to help us figure out why it’s so suspiciously weird.” A small device appeared in his hand. Being Hero class, himself and others in the same class were the only ones who possessed this option. “I’ll meet up with you guys in a bit. Save me a seat.” He tapped the center button with his thumb and waited.

Nothing happened.

A few more frustrated clicks lead to an irritated sigh. “The frick? My teleporter’s not working.”

“Again?” Purple looked up at him from her place in the boat squished between Blue to her right and Red to her left. Jade and Peach sat across from her with their backs to the rowbot. She held onto her staff so it created an overhead light for her friends.

“You really need to get that thing checked out,” Blue said. “This is the second time.”

“I know. I did. Tim, Warfstache, and Google said it was functioning properly. I was able to use it in Jack’s hub when I got called back to mine.”

“Do you think there might be something wrong with you again?” Jade suggested. “That teleporter seems to be connected to you.”

“No. It’s not me this time.” He hopped down into the boat and squeezed in between Peach and Jade.

Peach bit her lip and glanced to him on her left. “Maybe it’s something here, something about the person this nightmare came from that’s affecting it.”

“I don’t know.” It honestly had him worried. “But it looks like we’re all stuck here until we rescue this person or wake up first.”

Blue glanced at Mark’s unusually stoic, worried expression. She rarely ever saw him looking that raw without his facade of confidence. “I hate to say it, Mark, but I–”

He pointed at her. “Don’t say it, Skywalker.”

Her voice cracked reluctantly. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Everyone groaned.

“Great. What the hell did we get ourselves into?” Red rolled his eyes.

“[THIS IS A TRANSPORTATION VESSEL.]” the rowbot captain happily answered.

“I didn’t mean it literally.”

“[This vessel is nearly at capacity,]” the rowbot announced, “[but it goes against the first two laws of robotics to ask any of you to jump overboard. Give me a moment to make some calibrations.]

Beeps, whirs, chirps, and grinding noises emitted from within the rowbot and boat.

“[CALIBRATIONS COMPLETED. THIS IS ACCEPTABLE. ACTIVATING TRACKING SYSTEM...SETTING COURSE.]” the rowbot swiveled to stare ahead. Its eyes lit up, sending twin beam out into the darkness to light their way. The servos in its arms lifted the dual oars. “[ONWARDS WE GO!]”

The six dream travelers settled in for the long boat ride across what they now knew to be an ocean, based off of their knowledge of the game.

“Hey, um,” Purple hesitated, “Just checking, but no one gets seasick, right?”

Jade looked like they’d crushed a roach under their bare foot. “Nobody better barf in this boat.”

“Gross,” Peach scrunched up her nose. She looked to her teammate, who seemed incredibly tense.“ Mark, are you good?”

“Yeah, I’m good. We’re in a boat, not the ocean. I’m a brave boy. I can handle this.” Regardless of his bravado, he clenched his fists as his heart started to pound, but said nothing more. They all had enough to worry about. He didn’t want to add to it. Although he didn’t get seasick, being surrounded by his arch nemesis set his nerves on edge. Fuck the ocean.

Blue scanned the waters up ahead, keeping her eyes on the golden orb in the distance. The cool winds fluttered her long hair and yellow ribbons. “We’ll catch up to them.“ Her resolution set. ” We have to.”

 

 

 ----------

TBC 


	4. Chasing the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terrorlings in the water, a dying world, and the group finally comes face to face with the carrier of the sun.

_The middle of the ocean..._

The sea splashed against the metal sides of the boat in time to the rhythmic pulse of the oars leisurely propelling them through the water.

Blue squinted to bring the yellow glow of the light bulb up ahead into focus. “We’re not closing any distance. Can’t this thing go faster?”

“[THIS VESSEL WAS BUILT TO ACCOMODATE FOUR PERSONS. THERE ARE CURRENTLY SIX.]” the rowbot answered in its normal jovial tone. “[THE CALIBRATIONS OF THIS VESSEL WERE ALTERED TO ACCOMMODATE FOR THE EXTRA WEIGHT. THIS IS AS FAST AS WE CAN SAFELY TRAVEL.]”

Mark fidgeted.

“Dude,” Red looked to his nervous teammate, “relax.”

He pasted on a grin. “I am relaxed. Who’s not relaxed? Not me, because I am the epitome of ‘relaxed.’ Look at all this relaxed-ness. Are you relaxed? Because I don’t think you are.” He folded his arms.

Red stated with a hint of irritation, “…I’m fine,”

He gained skeptical stares from the others.

Keeping up this façade around them was useless, but habits are hard to break. “Look. We’re in a dinky rowboat captained by a Pun, heading through miles of black ocean following someone carrying a light bulb. What could possibly go wrong?”

“We could be attacked by a giant kraken,” Red suggested.

“Or a sea monster,” Purple held her staff close in paranoia. “But I hope we don’t.”

“Or a storm could pick up and toss everyone overboard,” Peach added.

“Or!” Jade sat up straight, “the captain can suddenly turn into an evil robot and drown us all.”

“[THAT IS NOT LIKELY,]” the rowbot kept its friendly tone.

“You guys aren’t helping,” Mark pressed two fingers of his right hand to his temple.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Blue assured everyone, lightening her tone. “Like you said, we’re out in the middle of nowhere. This is just a transition.”

That didn’t help settle his mind. So far, this nightmare had proved it was anything but normal.

Blue brushed her fingers along the surface of the cool water. The tactile sensation soothed her skin. Had she not known they were in the dream world, she would think this was entirely real. The smell of the salt-sea air, the cool breeze against her face, the refreshing feel of the water…they may as well be on the calm ocean at night in the waking world. If only there were stars. Then it might actually be considered peaceful.

Something cold as ice latched tightly around her wrist.

“Ah!” Blue’s eyes shot open in time to the spiritual equivalent of adrenaline shooting through her body. She braced herself against the inside of the boat, but her feet failed to find traction.

A hand with bones just too long and the joints too fat held onto her in a vice-like grip and pulled her halfway out of the boat. Moist, ashen skin stretched over the lumps and bumps. It raised its face above the waves with its mouth gaping open, as if to swallow her whole.

Blue let out a blood-curdling scream.

Blue!” Purple shoved her staff into Red’s hands, and wrapped her arms around her friend’s torso.

“Hold this!” Red thrust the staff at Mark, grabbed onto Purple, and pulled.

The Terrorling brought its other arm up to grip her forearm, followed by a second set of hands from a twin demon and yanked.

Blue slipped free of Purple’s grip and plunged headfirst into the ocean.

“Stop the boat!” Mark command. “Hold this!” He passed the lit staff over to Peach, “And this,” along with is glasses, and dove finger-points first into the water.

“Mark!”

Jade’s voice was drowned out by the rush of liquid silencing all outside noise. The black waters enveloped him and ripped any warmth away from his skin. The only forgiving light beneath the waves came from the pink hearts on his and Blue’s sleeves. He spotted her not far below tangled up in the arms of two Proxies.

Frightened but staying brave, Mark kicked his feet and rammed his fist into the nearest Terrorling’s face multiple times.

Its muted screech thrummed through the water as it let go of its prey.

He grabbed the front of its hoodie so it couldn’t escape and thrust his right fist into its abdomen, making it burst into vapor despite being under water. It retreated to the darkness of the sea.

Blue rammed her elbow back into the second Terrorling hard enough for it to let her go, spun, and kicked at its chest with both feet.

It sank back, but wasn’t nearly defeated. A banshee shriek exploded from it as it lunged at her with outstretched clawed hands.

He grabbed it around the waist from behind, halting its ascent, and gave Blue a ‘Get back to the boat!’ intense look.

She looked down past her feet at the two, grit her teeth, and pulled up her menu. It took less than 2 seconds for a knife to materialize in her hand. Mark was her friend and teammate. As team leader, he was her responsibility. There was no way she’d leave to let him fight alone. That was her entire team’s promise to him the night they rescued him from his own vicious nightmare.

She swam back down and plunged the dagger into the Proxie's chest, ripping the blade across to its left.

The monster poofed into smoke.

Another grabbed Mark's right ankle. And another snared his left. Three more began dragging him down into black suffocating depths. They weren’t whispering to feed his inner darkness as he expected. He and his team were in their way. This dream’s abnormalities made him feel like he was running out of air. His chest ached. If he didn’t make it, he would wake up, but that meant leaving his team to fight alone in this uncharted dream wilderness for however long it took for him to fall back asleep.

Terrorlings wanted the dreamer to succumb to their negativity, to be overpowered by it and thus, make the wraiths stronger. He had experienced this first hand. Because of that, he knew how to contain it, but also knew that Dark would never truly disappear.

It was only fresh into two weeks since they met up at PAX, and he was still dealing with his internal struggle. People were steadily finding their way back to his Hub, which was slowly repairing itself as he repaired himself. It was a battle that would take a while, but now he had the tools with which to fight, and his teams in both the waking and dream worlds to fight with him.

They would rescue the dreamer, and to hell with any denizen of darkness that got in their way.

The pink heart outline on the left sleeve of his black shirt—the mark of the hero—lit up brightly. A brilliant shock wave pulsed from it through the water like sonar.

It swept through Blue. She had to cover her mouth to keep from inhaling. The overpowering sense of resolution and faith in his team overwhelmed her. She couldn’t help but feel warm at that trust and feeling of belonging.

All of the Terrorlings surrounding him, and those holding him cried out in increased pain and finally exploded. Wisps of inky-black vapor scattered into the ocean.

The two greedily swam to the surface.

Purple and Red quickly pulled their leader on board with Mark’s help. Peach handed the staff back to its owner and helped Jade haul him into the boat.

He flopped back into his seat like a sack of rice slumped against the sideboard.

“Damn, you guys, are you all right?” Red was a thought away from telling everyone to give their friends half or full hearts if need be.

The two nodded, catching their breath.

Purple threw her arm around her best friend. “I was so scared!”

“You just jumped in without thinking,” Jade couldn't believe the other combated his own fear to save their leader. “That was awesome!”

“You know me. Always leaping before I look.”

Blue looked up at Mark and smiled. She didn’t need to vocalize what she’d felt. His concerned expression toward her betrayed that he already knew.

The rowbot continued on at an easy, steady pace.

“From now on, nobody put their hands, or feet, or appendage of any kind outside the boat,” Mark said.

Jade leaned back. “It's like those creepy creatures that'll tear you from your bed if you dangle your foot or hand over the side of the mattress.”

Purple hovered her staff over the water, casting a white glow over the surface. The hair on the back of her neck heckled as shadows drifted in and out of the lit up area. “I didn’t know Terrorlings could swim.”

Dozens of them surrounded the boat, but none tried to climb aboard. They were moving slightly faster in the same direction, chasing the sun – or rather, the person carrying the sun.

“Why are there so many of them?” Jade rubbed their arms from goosebumps pimpling their skin. “It's like something about this nightmare is drawing them in from everywhere.”

“Have they been in the water the whole time? Just following us?” The thought that hundreds of them existing out there made Purple shiver.

“They're drawn to negativity,” Red glanced sidelong at of the oldest of their team. “Mark's been in a mood this whole time.”

“Hey, don't pin this one me. We're all dealing with our own garbo, and the Terrorlings can pick up on that. We just happen to be floating on something I am personally not OK with.” He pushed wet hair out of his face. “Besides, We're small fry to them. Their target is the same as ours.”

“Those were really strong,” Blue frowned. “You had to punch one three times in the face before it poofed.”

Mark cleaned off his glasses and put them back on. More and more details about this place didn't add up. Time is a social construct, but all of the enemies they've encountered were stronger than they should normally be for spawning in a dream—like they've had time to build up a cache, and someone to provide it.

“Then we have to stop them before they reach the sun person.” Peach held up here staff and stood. “A good lightning spell should clear the area up ahead.”

“No, no no, stop!”

“Peach, No!”

“Wait!”

“What the fuck, Peach?!”

Everyone cried out at once.

Mark put his hand on hers to stop her. “We're in a metal boat that doesn't look like it's insulated.”

“[ONLY MY CIRCUITS ARE INSULATED,]” the robot captain announced happily.

“See? Metal conducts electricity, and we're not in a Faraday cage. I realize that's an electrostatic concept, but this is the dream world where physics are constantly dicked around with. It's gonna go right through this boat. No zappy zappy.”

“Oh my gosh,” Peach gasped sat down, embarrassed and ashamed. “I'm sorry.”

“It's ok, Peach,” Blue consoled her friend. “We're all in The More You Know zone about that.”

Purple slightly lifted her hand. “I knew about that.”

Mark dropped back into his seat, lolled his head back and slouched. “I hate the ocean,” he mumbled.

 

* * * *

They docked on the opposite side from rowbot #310.

“Land!” Mark leaped out of the boat and dropped to his knees on the nearest patch of light green moss. “Land! Sweet, sweet, beautiful, land! How I've missed you. Come here.” He flopped face down in the moss. “Daddy will never leave you again.”

“Should we leave you two alone to get a room?” Jade snarked.

“Yes,” came mark's muffled reply.

Blue left their companion to luxuriate on solid ground, and checked with the single passenger rowbot. “Hello?”

“[GREETINGS, PERSON. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE?]” It turned its head to look up at her.

“No, we're good. We just got here, thanks. We're looking for the person you brought over. Did you see where they went?”

“[AH,]” it seemed to sigh the word, “[THE PERSON ENTRUSTED WITH OUR SUN. YES, THEY ENTERED THE GLEN.]”

Blue looked toward the woods. A pale green glow, almost like mist, clouded in faint hues between the thick trees. Fireflies winked in and out of existence within the haze. It must have been frightening for the sun person to wander into this forest. Blue had her team. Sun Person traveled alone. She hoped they were all right.

The rowbot continued. “[THEY SAID THEY WERE COLD AND WEARY. I GAVE THEM THE SCARF FROM MY NECK AS A GIFT. I AM CONTENT IN KNOWING THE FINAL ACT OF MY PROGRAMMING WAS TO TRANSPORT THE BRINGER OF OUR SUN.]”

“Final fulfillment?” Blue's voice hushed. “You mean...”

The rowbot's head dipped slightly.

Blue's eyes followed to the port in the base of the robot's body built into the vessel. The jar of blue phosphor shrimp exuded a faint iridescence.

“[THIS TRIP DEPLETED THE REMAINDER OF MY ENERGY. I WIL SOON POWER DOWN FOR GOOD.]”

Her expression darkened with sadness. “I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“[NO NEED TO FEEL SORRY.]” It probably would have smiled if it could. “[I HAVE COMPLETED MY FUNCTION.]”

The others had joined her by this point. They watched in silence as the jar's glow flickered, faded, and finally went out.

Rowbot #310's onboard lights darkened. Its arms holding the twin oars lowered to rest against the sides of the boat as its servos whined down.

Peach rested her hand on Blue's shoulder as her companion's head tipped in empathy. Even if it was just a robot, a machine built to accommodate people, it was still sad. Everything in this dream was slowly fading away.

“We have to find them,” Blue turned to face her team. “I don't care what we have to do, or how long we have to stay. We're getting them out of here.”

The others nodded. No one had a witty comeback. This simply wasn't the time or place.

“So, let's go. Standing around like idiots isn't going to help anyone,” Red moved forward with the group behind him, leaving the rowbots at the dock.

The soft moss squished beneath their shoes. They kept a sharp lookout for any Terrorlings that lurked in this alien-green ethereal light. Some from the ocean were likely already chasing the sun person.

Jade stuffed their hands in their pockets. “Well, it's not pitch black here at least, and the woods are kind of calm.” They frowned. “I don't trust it.” They'd been through too many horror nightmares since being rescued from their own hell that they couldn't take anything at face value. Especially not here where the dream felt more like reality. They had to keep reminding themselves they were sleeping.

“Look at these trees,” Purple held out her staff light toward one of the trunks shimmering with green phosphorescence threading through the bark like hair. It seemed to absorb the magic. “They're so pretty—like something out of a fairy tale.”

“Guys, stop,” Peach grabbed the back of Purple's sweater, since she remained their headlight. Up ahead between two trees, danced a pixelated shifting mass of degradation. “It's one of those black square things.”

It warped the area within it, giving the impression that it would slice and dice whatever it came in contact with. “Let's steer clear of them if we can. We don't know what they'll do to us we touch it,” Mark said. Parts of the dream world tearing apart like this meant serious trouble. He checked his teleporter again. “I wonder if these are what's interfering with my teleporter.”

“It better not follow us,” Red walked backwards, keeping his eyes on the stationary anomaly. He pointed two fingers back and forth from his eyes to the anomaly. “I'm watching you, Glitch.”

They passed small, simple buildings, most of them with dark gaping windows and opened doors. If these were domiciles, they'd been abandoned and raided a while ago. This dream showed clear signs that time truly had passed here.

Purple gasped and readied her staff as a black shadow darted in and out of view to her right. “Terrorlings.”

A trio of Proxies paused to stare them down. They made sinister hisses and guttural vocalizations to each other behind their masks, as though debating to attack, then took off into the forest.

“They're ignoring us?” Blue blinked and lowered her trusty Smash'em hammer.

“Maybe we're just too strong for 'em,” Jade flexed their bicep. “I'd run from us, too.”

Mark's eyes widened. “They're ignoring us, because their target is close. Come on!”

Leaves and moss crushed beneath them as they hurried through the creepy woods after the Terrorlings. A mass of enemies gathered at a grove of thick tangled vines knotted around the phosphor trees like an organic cage. They created a bleak circle of shadows suffocating one point in the middle. Negativity spewed from them like toxic gas.

One small figure curled up in a ball of blue hoodie, jeans, and maroon sneakers in the center of it all. Their arms pressed against their ears and strands of long dirty blond hair obscured their face. The oversized light bulb lay off to the side in a curl of dried, shredded leaves. Its outline resembled a body desperately trying to hold onto it. The bulb was dark, save for a warm, minute spark of yellow at its center.

The whispers from the Terrorlings morphed together into incomprehensible susurrations. Each one drove its spikes into the soul of the one under attack—the dreamer.

“There they are!” Peach exclaimed.

“Do we have a plan,” Red asked.

“Let's Leroy this shit,” Mark snarled.

Jade and Blue grinned –their favorite plan.

Everyone raised their weapons to fight and cried out, “LEROY JENKINS!”

The startled horde had little time to react. Blades sliced across the bulbous Gooplings. Elemental and weather strikes burst through the stick-like bodies of the Shadowlings, and Proxies staggered toward them like zombies.

Blue swung her hammer hard in a circle, catching one of them in the chest and sending it flying.

The whispering continued to assault the dreamer.

“Maybe you guys want to shut the hell up!” Mark clenched his right hand into a tight fist and launched the force of his strike into a Shadowling, then dove into the middle of a quad hovering closest to the dreamer. “Feel my fists of fury! Wham, bam, fuck you, ma'am!”

The dreamer looked up at the commotion with one green eye peeking through their hair up at Mark's back as his landed strike after strike against the monsters. They closed their eyes. This might be a stronger monster taking on the form of a person to dispose of the others and then come for them. And yet they opened their eye once more, shivering, but unable to look away. This person...monster...had something glowing on his left sleeve.

“Ah!” Peach screamed and fell to her knees. An enemy attack hit her hard enough to paralyze her.

“Hold on! I'm coming!” Purple sent an arch of light magic through her combatant and dodged clawed hands swiping at her to reach her friend.

“Take care of her. I got your back!” Blue's hammer smashed into another Goopling that got too close. It burst into a mucus substance around the weapon's end. She shook the weapon fiercely. “Ew ew gross ew ew!” The slop of Goopling plopped to the ground and quickly met with the blunt end of her hammer. “Ew.”

“Here,” Purple knelt down and used a healing spell. The energy wrapped around Peach, restoring her own, though Purple felt the drain on her magic. She was nearly out. She'd have to switch to daggers soon. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Peach stood and settled into a ready stance. “These guys are toast.” Her focus sharpened and within a second, a torrential storm built over a group of six, causing enough damage to wipe out 4 of them. They disintegrated into piles of ash.

Purple took out the rest with the remainder of her magic.

Jade made evading attacks and striking quickly from behind an art form.

And Red's blade spun in the air with his motions, graceful, accurate, and deadly. He was a beautiful force of rage to be reckoned with.

The last of the Terrorlings exploded into smoke that arched and snaked into the woods to regenerate.

“That was a workout,” Blue shouldered her hammer.

“I didn't expect them all to be that strong,” Purple panted. The light at the end of her staff had gone out due to her depleted magical energy. “That was rough.”

“But we did it,” Jade sheathed their blades, though flinched at their injuries. “Is the sun person ok?”

They all joined Mark, who crouched down at the dreamer's side. “Hey. It's all right. They're gone now.”

The dreamer slowly uncurled and pushed strands of hair out of her face. Rowbot #310′s worn red scarf wrapped around her neck.

“Y-you’re one of them!” she scrambled back. “St-stay away from me!” her higher pitched voice trembled audibly.

“Terrorlings?” Peach stepped forward. “No, we’re not.”

“We're people just like you. We've all gone through this, too,” Mark gesture softly to his team.

The girl scooped up the light bulb and clutched it close. The pinpoint of light grew once more to fill the grove with a warm golden glow.

“It's ok. We’re here to save you,” Blue stepped forward and held out her hand.

"Save me?" She frowned. "Why?"

"It's kind of our thing,” Purple smiled.

Mark noticed the faint pink glow of a heart on her sleeve. They'd found another one, another soul with something in their heart that could help people. What worried him was how faintly it glowed. He needed to get her out of here and back to the Hub before its light went out. “What’s your name?”

She bit her lip, her eyes flicking from the light bulb to his dark eyes. “I…I don’t…” she hung her head, clearly embarrassed. She wasn’t even good enough to remember her own name. “I don't know.”

“You don’t remember you name?” Jade frowned. “That’s sad. Who the hell forgets their own name?”

“Jade,” Blue reprimanded.

“That's ok, Sun,” Mark held out his right hand. “We'll help you remember when we get back. Just trust me. It's safer there.”

“Sun? The voice never called me that. It never called me anything except 'you.'”

“What voice?” Blue asked.

Sun shook her head. “No. I can't. I have to do this. Please just...just stay away from me.” She spun on her heel, holding the bulb close to her chest, and ran into the woods. It’s golden orb dimmed.

“Wait!” Blue started to follow. Her heart dropped into her stomach as memories of her failure at rescuing Teal slammed to the surface of her thoughts.

“Are you kidding me?” Red snapped. “We almost got our asses handed to us, and she runs away?!”

“She has to finish this…” Purple mused. “What did she mean by that? And what voice?”

“This is ‘One Shot,’ right?” Jade spoke up. “She has the light bulb, which means she’s in Niko’s place.”

“And the voice to Niko was the player answering prompts that affected his journey,” Blue added. “I saw your playthrough, Mark. Niko carried the sun to the refuge city. He thought if he returned the sun, he could go home. If she’s trying to finish the nightmare like the game, then maybe she’s thinking it’ll have the same ending.”

Purple's timid hand quickly covered her own shocked expression. “But if she chooses the ending Mark chose…”

Mark’s demeanor suddenly turned serious and his shoulders slumped. “She won’t get her pancakes.”

“Huh?” Purple didn't remember all the nuances to that game, just the major details.

“Niko,” Mark began, “He loved pancakes. As the player, I saw the artwork created for his dreams. If I had made better decisions, I wouldn't have gotten the bad ending.”

Realization slapped the group hard. They were stunned silent for a few seconds. That one tiny detail overshadowed everything, blinding them like the light from that bulb.

Mark's 'I've got a bad feeling about this' meter just went from 'be extra careful' to 'we're fubernucked.'

“Shit, we gotta stop her,” Red kicked up dirt as he ran full speed across the soft green grass.

Everyone hurried to keep up.

Mark snapped his fingers as an clicked to life in his head. “We gotta be more original with her name than 'Sun.' Don’t worry, guys, I got this. Clench your buttcheeks, everybody, 'cause here comes the genius!” He scrunched his eyes shut with his fingers pressed against his temples, and working his mouth around various letters like trying to chew an over cooked bite of steak. Honestly, he looked constipated. The group shared worried glances as they ran until finally one name…or more rather one sound tumbled out of his mouth. “Fuweep!”

Everyone spoke in a flat, curious tone simultaneously. “Fuweep?”

“Yeah. The sound she made when we found her was like a little 'meep!', plus she's pretty fast. Ergo… Fuweep. Genius, right?” He flashed them a smug grin of total confidence. “I know. Soak it in.”

“… Seriously?” Red glared back.

"It sounds like something you name a hamster," Peach added.

“Hey, don’t question my logic! Fuweep is a perfectly good name for someone running headfirst into fuckery.”

"We'll just stick with Sun," Blue vetoed the idea and hurried with her friends after the light bulb.

This was now officially a speed run. If they didn't beat the timer and stop Sun from inserting the light bulb into place, she'd be lost to the darkness.

 

 

\---------------------  
TBC


	5. The Nightmare's Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team figures out exactly why this nightmare is different, and realize with dread that they only have one shot to save Sun.

_The Glen..._

 

The glow of the bulb disappeared into the wide hollow opening of a broad multistory building, igniting the interior for a second before its bearer carried it out of sight.

Sections of pixelating squares fluctuated into view to their left and right as the group hurried to catch up. They were appearing more and more often.

A sharp, quick scream jolted them from continuing forward. A large cluster of squares danced around an object within its center. A single small hand reached out in desperation.

“Hey!” Blue stopped. “Someone's in there!” She rushed through the black clovers and skid to a halt close to the squares.

“Blue, she's getting away!” Red argued. “Dammit,” he cursed. He and the others followed.

“Help!” a high pitched voice resonated from within. The sound carried its own distortion. A girl covered in blue feathers with matching eyes blinked up at them.

“She's not a Terrorling,” Mark said. “She's must be part of this world.” He leaned forward for a closer look, and his eyes widened. “She must be an ego of sun's.”

“This is an ego? I didn't know they existed outside the hub.” They'd never met any outside of the Markihub that they could recall.

“Some of them do,” he explained. “Mostly what we encounter are NPC elements of the dreams, or Terrorlings. Egos like to live in stable places.”

“This nightmare is anything but stable,” Purple noted.

“Why would one be in a dream? Those don't last long enough,” Red wondered aloud.

Mark stayed silent. He remembered what Tiny Box Tim said about the mission briefing file, but voicing it would only worry his team. Besides, he was 70% sure it was a typo—a drop from his 100% shoulder-brush confidence back at the hub.

“If this is part of Sun, we gotta help her.” Blue examined the anomaly, then extended her hammer. “Grab on. We'll pull you out.”

The little girl gripped the handle tightly.

Blue pulled hard on her weapon. She felt Jade's arms wrap around her waist to add strength. The girl refused to budge. Her tiny hands began to slip.

Mark took hold of the handle close to Blue's hands and pulled. It took the efforts of all three until finally the child slipped free of the squares. The three of them fell backwards.

She curled up on the ground, crying in pain. Lacerations criss-crossed all over her body, and her feathers were shredded. Yet her clothes weren't stained with blood. “My...brother...” she muttered. “He was...with me. Is he ok?” She tried to get her knees, but collapsed.

Peach's face fell in sadness and she knelt to rest her hand on the girl's head. “You were the only one in those squares. If he was in there... I'm...I'm sorry.”

The girl's eyes shimmered with tears. “No...No, he tried to save me,” she sniffled and gripped the hem of Blue's dress in her fist. “Brother,” her voice gave in to a weak sob.

Blue leaned over to hug her. This was her world, and her family. Whatever happened here affected her as strongly as events in the real world impacted them. Even though she was an ego, she and all the others here –if there were any others—took on forms to fit this dream. Whatever the case, the pain of losing her brother to that area of corruption was real.

Red gently scooped her up into his arms. “We can't leave her here,” he glance down to her. She barely weight more than a toddler. “What's your name?”

“Alula.”

Blue stood. “Let's follow where Sun went. Maybe we'll find a safe place for Alula to rest.”

The group moved quickly through the firefly-speckled field to the building. However, their way in was guarded by a robot a full story tall, and the width of a bus.

Its deep bass voice reverberated through the ground. “[GREETINGS PERSONS. SIGN IN IF YOU WISH TO PASS TO THE REFUGE.]”

“Would love to,” Mark shrugged. “Do you have a pen?”

“[I LOANED MINE TO THE BRINGER OF THE SUN. THEY WERE IN A HURRY AND DID NOT RETURN IT. PERHAPS YOU CAN FIND ANOTHER PEN.”]

“Here,” the girl painfully fished an item out of her coat pocket and handed it over. It emitted a soft yellow glow. “It's a feather. It's for the one who'll return our sun,” her breath hitched. “I had to go home to get it. My brother and I were trying to find her when those squares showed up. If you're her friends, then please give it to her. The sacred book says she'll need it.” It nearly slipped from her fingers as she curled up in a small squeak.

Mark caught it before it could hit the ground. He dabbed the tip of it on his finger, leaving behind a drop of black ink. Quickly, he scribbled down all of their names before the ink ran out, and added the item to his inventory.

The gargantuan guard robot's eyes scanned the page, then moved aside. “[YOU MAY PROCEED. THANK YOU.]”

“Take this,” Purple offered a full heart to the girl. It absorbed into her body and spread out beneath her skin in a brief red glow. The lacerations began to heal.

“Can you watch her until she's better?” Blue craned her neck upward at the robot.

“[IT IS NOT IN MY PROGRAMMING, BUT I WILL GUARD HER. SHE IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO ENTER.]”

Red laid her gently on the soft moss.

“Good...luck.” Alula waved lightly. She watched them give her sympathetic looks before they entered the dark building. Alone at the foot of the giant robot, she cried. The moss absorbed her tears.

A somber sense tailed the group through the dim halls barely lit by patches of green phosphor harvested from the trees. Purple's magic returned enough for her to safely create the white ball of light atop her staff again, and regained her position at the front. They all kept their eyes and ears pealed for sounds of Terrorling attacks.

They went up multiple flights of stairs and zig-zagged through corridors. Jade opened a door to the left and they stepped out onto a railing-less veranda overlooking the Glen—because that's safe engineering. A red haze dyed the horizon in a sinister airbrushed filter between black spires dotted with crimson lights. That was the Refuge—the city.

In the center of it, reaching so high up into the solid black they couldn't see the top, soared a windowless obelisk. It sliced through the haze like a knife. Only its silver base reflected the red glow of the city.

“The tower,” Blue's voice lowered. “That's where she's going.”

“Whoa, man. That thing is huge,” Jade's jaw dropped.

“That's what she said,” Mark folded his arms.

“Heheh, Nice,” Jade high fived his friend.

Red smacked him upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Everything.”

“Guys, come on,” Peach interrupted.

“Whelp, it's a pretty view, but we've got an objective to complete,” Mark gestured toward his shorter friend, “Lead the way, Purple.”

With her as their headlight, the group rushed through the corridors.

The crackling of static cut through the air. They spun at once. Directly behind them formed enough black squares to completely block the hall.

“Run!” Blue cried out.

“Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa. These don't chase you,” Mark calmed her down. “I remember this. They're stationary.”

Another one formed a foot ahead of it, forcing them to step back. Followed by another.

“But they can multiply,” Blue's hair would have stood on end. “Again...Run!”

Cluster after cluster of glitch squares materialized in their wake, each producing a static jolt that speared its energy through them. They ran as fast as they could up a long flight of stairs, turned a sharp corner, and sprinted down the hall.

“They're right on our asses!” Mark yelled. “Go! Go!”

A thread-thin rectangular outline of red light bled in through a door frame at the end of the extremely long corridor. Thankfully, it was unlocked. They barged through it and slammed the door shut behind them. The whole group took a few steps back as the door became overcome by squares. Everything beyond that door had succumbed to the destruction of this world.

“That,” Peach panted, leaning on her staff to catch her breath, “was too close. Way too close.”

Blue looked to the door. “I guess we can't go back that way.”

“Good thing we're not,” Red said.

Without the sun, the only light source stretching through the city came from the bright red water filling the canals far beneath them.

Their shoes clinked on the grating of the metal open-air skywalk. It wasn't very wide, maybe enough to hold two people side by side at best.

The walkways were void of life. “Where is everyone?” Purple's nervousness shown through. “It's like a ghost town.”

Red phosphor lamps flickered in the windows—and indication of life—but they didn't pass the foot traffic expected of in a city. Sun's hero mark didn't glow brightly, so there was only so much her mind could create.

“This is a dream,” Mark began. “I wouldn't expect it to be a thriving metropolis with a coffee house on every corner.”

They passed by a few robots that ignored them to continue their tasks.

And the end of a walk in front of a close door, sat a robot splayed out on the ground completely surrounded by the particle squares. Its arms and legs phased in and out of view. “[P#L.EAS;E DO N//T APPR#ACH.]”

“It's completely glitched out,” Peach frowned. Whatever happened to Alula was happening to this robot. Thankfully, it was a machine without the ability to sense the pain of being erased.

There was no way to save it. They had to call it a loss. Regretfully, the group turned back and took another route.

“Down there!” Jade pointed to the walkways several stories below them at a shadowy figure running with the light bulb. “I see her! She's heading for that building!”

“How the hell did she get so far ahead?” Red looked over.

“She's not alone,” Blue leaned over the railing and watched a cluster of macabre creatures lurching after her. “Terrorlings,” she cursed the word. “We need a way down. I remember there being an elevator in the game around here somewhere.”

“You mean the one that didn't work until you made a button out of a coffee can and fridge magnets?” Peach said.

“That's the one. This is a dream, so we might get lucky.”

The crew wove along the catwalks, turning back when they encountered squares or parts of the walks that had broken off as if deleted. They reached the elevator shaft within minutes.

A boy in a gray flat cap bounced on the balls of his feet. “Come on, come on,” he mumbled. Tufts of black hair stuck out from beneath the hat.

“Hey kid,” Mark got the others attention. “Did you see a girl with a light bulb come through here?”

“Yeah,” he said in a gruff, irritated tone. He had to be about 12 years old. “The doors closed just as I got here. Now I have to wait for it to come back. Stupid idiot wouldn't even hold the door.”

Red rapidly pressed the button with impatience.

“That doesn't work, you know,” Jade folded their arms.

“Your face doesn't work, you know,” He shot back.

“That didn't even make sense.”

“I do that, too, with crosswalk lights,” Purple offered. “It doesn't help, but it's cathartic.”

A few minutes later, the door opened and everyone shuffled inside. The doors closed smoothly, and the elevator descended at an easy pace.

The light acoustic guitar and xylophone muzak filled the car with its tinny AM radio sound from two small speakers in the ceiling in a complete dichotomy to their pressing situation. Apparently, the engineer had never heard of bass boost.

Everyone tensed in the uncomfortable, awkward silence. They could fight together, be in a boat on the ocean together, and hang out in the hub before missions together, and yet the power of an elevator and muzak was enough to invoke the curse of the cramped, inescapable box of discomfort. They all fidgeted.

“Kind of a long ride to the surface, huh,” Purple softly broke the thick atmosphere.

Mark silenced her quickly holding up his index finger in front of her face. “Not a peep! Markiplier demands silence!”

Blue chuckled. She remembered that part of his play-through. Every time Niko got in the elevator, Mark shouted, 'Not a word out of you, Niko. Your God demands silence!'

Peach, Purple, and Red got the reference and joined in, however Jade hadn't watched that series and looked completely lost. “What the fuck, Mark?”

The kid stared wide-eyed at Mark.

“It's a joke,” Blue nudged Jade in the shoulder. “Don't worry about it.

“So, uh--” Peach spoke up. “This voice Sun said she hears. That should be the player, but this is a dream. Maybe it's the Entity? The one that helped the player, but it's talking to her because there is no player?”

“What are you guys talking about?” The kid demanded.

“Uh,” Blue smiled too wide and waved her hand in the air. “Nothing, it's nothing.” She whispered sidelong to Peach. “Ixnay on the eemdray in front of the idkay.”

Mark leaned in with one hand cupped around his mouth. “Best not to start ripping interdimentional holes in the mind of a child.”

“Hm,” The kid harrumped. “You guys are weird.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot,” his answer slid in like butter.

No one spoke for the rest of the elevator ride.

The doors slid open on the surface, and they stepped out onto the pavement. Canals of water imbued with glowing red phosphor flowed lazily to either side of walking path. Buildings and pathways created a maze of metal and concrete, like the city was built on a massive lake. Just like with the upper levels, the lack of foot traffic worried them, as did the presence of multiple clusters of squares.

“Well, that was awkward. See ya,” the kid rushed away from the group of strange strangers as fast as he could.

“I guess he was another aspect of Sun,” Peach guessed.

“That voice—the Entity—can't be a Somni,” Red surmised, picking up the original conversation, “which means it's a Terrorling taking on that form. Like how Dark took on yours,” he looked to Mark, who frowned at that memory.

His jaw locked around his realization. “Then it's a part of herself. And it's powerful.”

Blue glanced back to her team. “She might not even know what'll happen if she puts that bulb back.”

“Or maybe she does,” Peach's tone turned melancholy.

“That's the building!” Jade broke into a run down an adjacent metal industrial-style foot bridge across a canal and jumped the short set of steps. They readied their blades for a fight with the group of Terrorlings. If they were gathered out here waiting, that meant Sun was still inside.

Compared to earlier, it was a group of six Shadowlings and Proxies that the team took out with minimal damage, and only one person becoming confused. Purple used her powers on Red to remove the curse. Only a robot remained, shuffling back and forth in place as though it didn't even notice the battle.

Everyone entered the building except for Mark, who lingered just long enough to ask the robot a quick question. He rejoined the group before they'd realized he was gone.

It was a typical library – books stacks up to the ceiling on rows and rows of shelves set on half levels reachable by steps. Beanbag chairs and tables dotted the area for anyone to flop into to enjoy their read. Tall, slim windows to either side let the crimson glow of the city bleed inside to cast everything in its watercolor hue. The smell of book-binding glue and age permeated the air.

At the top of the third half-level, set patiently behind a wide U-shaped desk, sat a robot wearing a pair of thick framed glasses. A wide stairwell disappeared into the darkness of the upper floor behind it. The robot stared straight at the newcomers.

“[GREEINGS. HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?]” it said in a programmed nasally voice, clearly enabling a nerd stereotype.

“We're looking for someone carrying a light—“ Blue stopped herself, “the sun. Have you seen her?”

“[AFFIRMATIVE. THE HEAD LIBRARIAN IS SPEAKING TO THEM NOW.]”

“Thanks,” Blue lead her team around the desk, only to be halted by the robot's command.

“[STOP. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO GO INTO THE ARCHIVES WITHOUT A LIBRARY CARD.]”

“Can't you let us through?” Peach asked.

“[I CANNOT GO AGAINST MY PROGRAMMING. I HAVE NOT BEEN TAMED. PRESENT A LIBRARY CARD FOR ACCESS TO THE ARCHIVES.]”

“But you let Sun go ahead!” Jade argued.

“[THE HEAD LIBRARIAN WAS HERE AT THE TIME AND ALLOWED IT.]”

“Son of a—We don't have time for this.” Red pushed through and reached for his sword.

Mark clasped his hand over his to stop him. “Slow your roll, Red. We have no idea how volatile the NPCs in her dream could be trying to protect her.”

“So what do you expect us to do? Just wait out here for her to come back?”

“Yup,” Mark answered in confidence. “Her goal is the tower. We'll cut her off here.”

Red scowled, but uncurled his fist.

The 'check-out' manifests on the robot's desk caught Mark's attention—or rather, the series of dates printed on each one. Either Sun's mind had an amazing ability for detail to add specific time periods to inconsequential items, or else these were actual dates she didn't have control over. He'd never seen that phenomenon before. Too many details in this nightmare weren't matching the criteria of a typical rescue. Sun seemed more like everyone else here—living at the mercy of this dream instead of being its creator.

Thankfully, they didn't have long to wait. A yellow glow emerged from the stairwell preceding its carrier.

“Sun!” Purple blurted out.

Sun stopped at the base of the stairs. “You again?” she muttered. “Just who are you? I've never seen you before in my life. Why are you following me?”

“Wait, you don't know who this is?” Red thumbed toward Mark.

“No, does it matter?”

“Your file showed up in our hub.”

“My—what? Look. Just leave me alone.”

“Sun, listen,” Blue stepped forward, but the robot's arm stretched out to block her. “We know that voice you're hearing is telling you to return the light bulb to the tower, but you can't listen to it. It's lying to you.”

She clutched the red scarf around her neck in her left hand, cradling the bulb in her right. “It's the only thing that's telling the truth. Please. I have to finish this. You guys don't understand what I've been through, I...” she moved quickly around the other side of the desk. “You're just strangers, just like everyone else. Don't follow me anymore.”

“Sun!” Peach reached out to grab her scarf, but her fingertips merely brushed it.

Sun hurried down the half levels and out of the library.

“Dammit, again?” Jade cursed. “Why does she keep doing that?”

“She can't get into the tower without all three pieces of the old sun,” Purple said. “She was probably here to get the third piece.”

“But she doesn't have all three,” Red looked to his teammate, who pulled up his inventory and removed the glowing feather.

Mark clutched the feather gently, but firmly in his left hand.

“Come on, we gotta hurry!” The group followed Blue swiftly to the door, but Mark trailed behind them slowly.

“Mark?” Purple met up with him in the middle of the carpeted central isle.

He didn't want to be right. Or more rather, he didn't want Tiny Box Tim to be right. “Dammit. I knew something was funky,” he hissed between his teeth. “Guys, I think this is worse than anything we've seen before.”

“Yeah, we know. This nightmare is screwing with us like it's real,” Blue said. “We just have to be more careful.”

“It's not just a nightmare.” Fear pulsed in his heart at his own words. If he voiced them aloud, then that meant the others would hear his theory, and with the amount of evidence that stacked up on this journey, and Tiny Box Tim's warning, he couldn't brush it aside anymore. His previous 100% assurances had lowered to 10%. and as he opened his mouth, it dropped to zero.

“I was hoping Tim was wrong, but it doesn't look like that now.” He swiped down with his index finger in the air at chest height, calling up his menu and tapped on the 'mission' information. The report that each of them were given appeared on the semi-transparent screen. “Look at the record date.”

Everyone peered at it closely.

Blue blinked in confusion, as did everyone else. “One year ago? But the day and month are the same. This is just a typo.”

“That's what I thought, too. But the more time we've spent here, and the people we've encountered beg to differ. Eerything shows a wear of age. The letter at the Barrens, the robots, everyone knowing this world is falling apart. Even those squares seem like pieces of this place are disappearing.”

Mark took a deep breath. “This dream is affecting us like reality, because for Sun, it is reality—more-so than usual.” He gestured to the entrance behind them. “The robot outside those doors said he's been pacing in the same spot for three months. The papers on the nerd-bot's desk all have different time stamps for check-in and check-out dates, and their titles. That's not something that appeared in the game. It's native to this dream.” He locked his team in sight, throwing all joking to the side. “This isn't a typo. Time has actually been passing here. She's probably been running all over this world from Terrorlings chipping away at her until she eventually found the light bulb.”

Words he never thought he'd utter in this world or the waking world forced from his lips. “Sun's been dreaming for one year.”

Purple's mouth slacked. “That's impossible. No one can do that. No one can survive.”

“Unless she's in a coma,” Red voiced what none of them wanted to.

Mark nodded.

“Fuck me,” Jade exhaled. “Then why One Shot?”

“Maybe it was the last Let's Play she saw?” Peach bit her lip. “Which might mean she doesn't know about the other endings. All she knows is the choice Mark had to make for Niko.”

“But she doesn't know who he is, so she wouldn't make that connection,” Blue spoke up.

“Didn't Niko have a choice to shatter the bulb or put it back?” Red explained. “Shattering it would send Niko home, but replacing the bulb would mean they were stuck here forever.”

“If she smashes the bulb, she might wake up, but...” to Blue, it didn't feel like Sun wanted to.

“Why didn't you tell us about this theory before?” Red snapped.

Mark understood the source of his anger, and he reciprocated that feeling. “Because I didn't have enough evidence to prove it before. I've never been inside the dream of a coma patient that I'm aware of. I'm kicking my own ass here, all right?” He was upset at himself for not realizing it earlier, and for not taking Tim's warning as seriously as he should have.

The memory of Teal's failed rescue assaulted Blue again. Her heart ached. Teal had accepted the darkness, refusing to saved. They saw her at PAX, but haven't encountered her since. “No,” Blue grit her teeth. “Not again. I will not lose anyone else ever again!”

She burst through the library doors at top speed. Fueled by the powerful desire to save this girl who had lived in the dream world for one year. Jade caught up to her easily and the two chased down the glowing bulb toward the tower. The team followed close behind.

A cluster of particle corruption squares formed in a flash right in their way. The pathway beneath it dissolved. The squares were an involuntary response to Sun's stress and need to end this darkness, so it was destroying itself little by little over the past year in a self-destructive downward spiral.

“This way,” Blue lead the group to the left and around, linking back up with the original walk.

"I don't know where that Terrorling is, but I'm going to punch it in the dick," Mark scowled.

“Do they even have dicks?” she cast him a side-long glance.

“Time to find out.”

The massive tower's spire loomed like an ominous sleeping giant. Sun didn't make all the choices for the Solstice ending. This was Mark's ending. If she were able to enter the monolith, she'd be faced with two choices:

Replace the bulb and be forced to remain in this world...

Or smash the light bulb, ending this world and either waking up, or ending herself along with it.

If they failed here, they failed for good. They literally had only one shot to get this right.

 

 

 

 ------------------

TBC


	6. Light and Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team confronts Sun in the central tower, and face the powerful entity that consumed her.

********_The catwalks toward the tower..._

The Voice whispered delicately in her ear, guiding her as it had from the start of her journey.

_Turn right, turn left, keep straight. You’re almost to the tower._

Sun headed its instructions. She had no reason to doubt it. This voice held the only hope she’d felt in ages.

That moment so long ago in the Barrens, alone, cold, exhausted, and afraid, she’d given up. Details of her life had already disappeared. This macabre world was her reality. She’d wrapped herself around the glowing light bulb, and begged for help from someone…anyone…to save her.

The cry from her heart shot outward in all directions in pure desperation.

Among all the whispers and taunts that assaulted her for so long, chasing her through forests, run down towns, dark caverns, halls that smelled of stagnant water and rotting flesh, around perilous cliffs, and drowning pools, this one single voice rose above them all.

It answered in a mellifluous tone that gently pet her ears, saying simply, _I’m here_.

She couldn’t find its source, and it frightened her.

Then The Voice offered her the sliver of value she craved so much: take the bulb to the tower in the refuge city, and all of her suffering will end.

Sun wanted to accept it, but couldn’t believe she was capable of such a trip.

The Voice barraged her with neverending words of truth at her own existence. It continuously filled her mind with the reality of her own history and constant reminders of her failings. Yet the voice never yelled. It remained passive-aggressive, smooth like velvety cocoa, wrapping its arms around her as a mother does to comfort her child.

The light bulb kept the weaker Terrorlings at bay, but as Sun wandered the Barrens, deciding whether or not to listen to the voice, the stronger those monsters became.

When at last, days later, cornered in the mines, she screamed and let the darkness in.

The soft hue dying her left upper arm pink dimmed.

The Voice calmed, chuckled softly, and praised her for finally listening to reason.

It breathed only the truth about herself; she was an inconsequential human lost in a world of eternal night. Worthless. A mistake taking up oxygen meant for someone else. No one truly cared about her. Any kind words were superficial. She was naïve and gullible, and everyone used her because they knew she wanted so much to believe they truly loved her. Regardless of her attempts to rise above it, she would always be brushed aside in favor of someone prettier, smarter, and more confident. Her efforts to reach these same goals everyone valued in others meant nothing. She was a doormat to be trampled upon and thrown away.

She did her best to smile and remain kind, but it piled up.  
It hurt.

But not here. Not in this world.

Here, she had a purpose. She'd been given a reason that gave her existence meaning. The voice instructed her that the delicate light bulb was the sun for this world, and without it, everyone would perish. Yet with it, everyone would see light again. If she brought the light bulb to the tower, her pain would end.

Terrified, Sun fell to the will of the darkness and agreed to travel to the tower. She sniffled and cried as she forced her feet to move one painful step at a time.

She might be nothing, but the people of this world didn't deserve to die.

From then on, the voice helped her find two pieces of the old sun—the small items that glowed with yellow phosphor—and instructed her on how to remove the rust from the old Rowbot so she could cross the ocean.

It expressed an irate displeasure with her when she’d deviated from its path in order to clean the other Rowbot. She felt horrible for delaying her mission and angering the voice, but the other Rowbot would be doomed to sit here forever—alone, abandoned, and forgotten. It hurt to realize this. Although a pointless task, she wanted it to know at least one person cared. The least she could do was use the remaining acid she’d created from the blue phosphor and the gas from the vents to free up its joints.

The voice chided her again when she’d gone off into that glade of brambles. A plant lady—she'd said her name was Maize--lay on the ground half alive. Her only wish was to feel the warmth of the sun one last time.

She’d rested the bulb within the arms of Maize even as The Voice told her bothering would be useless. Why try when it'll do no real good? Sun ignored that and lay down beside her, completely exhausted. She’d told The Voice that this world reminded her of a game she watched someone play, but couldn't remember who. The protagonist was a cute cat person, and it was his duty to save the world. The deep, honey-warm tone of the commentator's voice played through her mind like a recording. It was more soothing than the presence that remained with her now. She held onto it. It was familiar and welcoming—almost as comforting as the light bulb.

The faint pink light at her left brightened. Sun found contentment in that and finally dozed off to nap.

The Voice continued in her mind. It warned her of the monsters gathered around her. Sun awoke to find Maize had disintegrated—died. A single seed remained in the leaves. She'd stuffed it into her pocket and tried to get up, but the monsters suffocated her, forcing her back down with their whispers.

She was nothing. She couldn't help anyone. She couldn't save Maize. She lost time for no reason. She failed everyone and everything. She was an annoying, ugly screw up. No wonder everyone ignored her…

And then the strangers appeared.

One of them stood over her, fighting off the monsters with his bare fists. The others wielded weapons that expelled power and colorful energy bursts with incredible confidence and skill. They fought the monsters together, working so well they could read what their teammates needed without many words.

They were amazing, strong,... and terrifying.

The Voice told her they were monsters in disguise –what these strangers called ‘Terrorlings.’ She almost believed it, but something about them seemed different. They wanted to help her, and even gave her a name in spite of her shame at not remembering her own, but she couldn’t go with them. She needed to finish this.

So she ran away.

And she continued to run even now straight for the tower.  
\----

Three walkways extended out from the base of the city’s center spire; one each to the east and west, and one to the south. There were no security guards of any persuasion—person or robot—and no windows. A pair of wide, silver double doors set in the middle was the only feature to adorn the smooth, seamless exterior. They held no keyholes or handles of any kind. The whole building looked to be carved from one insanely massive, elongated cube of metal.

Sun craned her neck back to look straight up, but couldn’t see the top. It blended into the starless sky. "Man, that's huge." Her own thoughts answered with 'That's what she said,' and it was enough to bring a small smirk. The Voice never made jokes like that, but if she had a companion like herself here, maybe they would.

The Voice snickered. _Who'd want to travel with you? They wouldn't stick around for long anyway. You'd annoy them. Remember your purpose here. Keep going._

Taking a deep breath, she approached the doors.

They responded to the motion sensor activation and ‘shsshed’ open, as though expecting her.

She stepped inside.

She didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t this. The lobby's interior mimicked a monochrome rectangle. Its open-floor-plan design was devoid of any furnishings. Light grey and dark grey square tiles checkerboarded the floor. No welcome desk or robots greeted her, no signs of life, or anyone attending to the function and care of a structure this tall, and no stairs lead to the upper floors. It was simply…quiet, like it was asleep.

"No, this place isn't creepy at all," her sarcastic whisper echoed too loudly in the empty room.

Another set of double doors indented into the wall ahead of her reflected the shine of the bulb. Unlike their counterparts outside, these doors bore the symbol of the light bulb embossed on their surfaces.

"So that's it, huh? The entrance to the heart of the tower." And at its summit, awaited the promised end of this nightmare.

Sun exhaled slowly and approached the doors. The bulb's glow poured over the polished surface. She waited, yet nothing happened. She removed the two small pieces of the previous sun from her pocket: a six-sided die obtained from the head librarian, and a common black clover encased in an amber pendant that a red-haired humanoid robot gave her back at the Barrens.

  
She held them out, but the door remained closed. "Why not?" she muttered.

  
_Haven't you figured it out yet?_

  
Her eyes flashed open when she suddenly realized she'd rushed away from the strangers in the Glen before gaining the second piece. "No," her teeth clenched. "No! Why?!" She slammed her fist against the door. "Dammit, I'm such an idiot! How could I have missed it? How? It's always one thing, one tiny thing I forget that screws everything up!" She kicked at the door, but it didn't budge. "Why didn't you tell me?" her eyes looked up slightly to the invisible voice. "I trusted you to guide me, to tell me what I needed to do."

  
_That was your fault, wasn't it_ , crooned The Voice. _You ran away. You're always such a little coward._

  
Sun hung her head as her heart dropped and the fight in her accepted the answer. Of course. She made the wrong decision again. This was her fault. Why did she even think she could do this?

  
It chuckled. _I'm teasing, dear. Don't be so upset. You take things way too personally._

  
"I'm sorry," she sniffled and wiped at her nose. "So, how do I get in?"

  
_Patience_...

  
The sense that she was being watched crept up her spine. Sun turned.

  
Mark, Blue, Red, Purple, Peach, and Jade walked inside the spacious open room to the middle, blocking her only escape. The light on Purple's staff melded with the yellow haze from the bulb after the door closed.

  
"There you are. Will you quit running already?" Jade folded their arms. "It’s getting annoying."

  
"I...I told you not to follow me," Sun hugged the bulb like a shield.

  
"Yeah, my mom says I have selective hearing," Red replied.

  
Mark held up the feather in his left hand. Its sunny iridescence added to the mix. "A door won't open without the full key, Sun."

  
She stuffed the trinkets back into her pocket, tightened her jaw, and held out her hand. "Please give it to me."

  
"Mm... Lemme think. Not a good idea." he stepped forward, but paused when Sun scooted back up against the door, clearly frightened. "Guys, stand down," he motioned for everyone to lower their weapons. They knew a powerful Terrorling had latched onto her, yet for the sake of the dreamer, everyone complied.

  
"You don't have to do this," Blue moved cautiously, keeping her hammer angled to the floor. "We've been where you are. Maybe not exactly, but close enough. We just want to take you somewhere safe."

  
She shook her head. "You don't get it."

  
"No, we don't get it unless you tell us," Jade said. The similarity to a first conversation with Blue after they'd met wasn't lost on them. Now they knew how she'd felt against their stubbornness.

  
She put up an air of false bravado to hide behind. "This world needs the sun. And it's my duty to save it."

Mark closed the gap between them. "I hate to drop the truth bomb here, but... This isn't the physical world, Sun," his voice softened. "You're dreaming."

  
"Dreaming...?"

  
"For a long time."

  
The whispered voice intruded as she started at him. She listened, bit her lip, and shook her head. "No, you're lying."

  
"We're here because we're all dreaming, too," Peach backed him up.

  
"No! This is real. I've been here forever. It's all I know."

  
"All you know?" Purple gasped. "You have no idea that you're--."

Mark extended his right hand, palm up. "We can explain everything. You just have to trust us. We can get you out of here."

  
The Voice's admonishment returned. Trusting these people would be a mistake. Or perhaps this was her moment to make a decision; abandon her task and go with them, or continue forward.

  
The sense she picked up from all of them was confusing. There was anger, irritation, an unspoken urgency, yet also kindness, patience, concern, and love for her. But...why? Why would they even bother with someone as invisible as her? Still, she wanted to go somewhere familiar so badly that it hurt.  
Slowly, cautiously, sun reached out to take his hand.

  
The light bulb relief designs on the double doors flared to life in that moment, and pulled aside. An abyss plunged into darkness beyond.

  
Sun recoiled her hand and stared.

  
Everyone's jaws slacked in disbelief.

  
"What the hell?" Red blinked. "I thought she needed all three pieces to open the door."

"She didn't need to hold all the pieces," Purple put it together. "They just had to be in close proximity with the light bulb."

  
"You mean we triggered the lock for her?" Jade raged. "That's the opposite of what we wanted!"

  
"Don't go in there, Sun. This world is falling apart," Blue's conviction shown in her eyes. "We have to leave, but we're not leaving here without you."

  
"Why are you trying to stop me?" her voice trembled. "Why can't I be given a chance? One chance to prove I'm worth something."

  
"You are worth something. If you go in there, it's not going to end the way you think," Purple pleaded.

  
"It's-it's all I have left."

  
"Not, it isn't," Blue continued. "You have us."

  
"Then where were you?!" she burst out. "Where were you when I was running for my life for months? When I was cold, and tired, and alone, and scared! Where were you?!"

  
The frustration leaking from her swept through them all.

  
"No matter how hard I tried, everyone always disappeared. I don't know anything but this place. I am nothing! I have never been good enough for anyone!" She breathed, calming down. "Not until now." Sun turned her back on them and crossed the threshold. "Go be like everyone else and leave me alone."

  
"No!" Peach cried out. “You've got it all wrong!”

The glow on the embossed symbols went out.

  
"Not good. Move!" Blue commanded.

  
Everyone sprinted through. The hem of Red's flannel button up shirt nearly caught in the door as he dove through last and rolled to his feet. It closed leaving a seamless wall behind. This was a one-way door, indicating whomever entered was not intended to leave.

  
An inch of water covered the ebony floor stretching into the void.

With a crack of power, a single overhead light clicked on, illuminating a large red square tile on the floor in the center of the room scarred by a giant white 'X'. Sun stood at the crossing point, cradling the bulb in her arms.

“Sun, Come on. We’re just trying to help you,” Red begged.

“Go away!” she turned her words into tiny barbs. “I'm an NPC. I'm the background actor you see hurled from an explosion in an action movie. At least this way, I can do something meaningful with my life where I'm actually wanted. I have a purpose, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.”

“What? No one's an NPC.” Blue started toward her, but Mark's left arm snapped out to block her.

“Hold it. Something's not right.” The air shifted. Something in his mind sensed it—a dense, compressed, cold...and familiar presence. "That's not Sun anymore."

Sun's lips parted slightly, but no sound left her. She was frozen, taken from control.

The shadow of a long-fingered ethereal hand creeped around from behind her neck like a spider. It brushed its tips along her chin. A slim silhouette emerged from her side and hugged her body. It leaned away enough to reveal a semi-transparent face with the mirror image of Sun's.

“Very astute, Mark,” The Voice purred. It held a resonance similar to Sun's, though more mature, and tainted with arrogance. “A smart move. Not what I'd expect from a man who spends his days screaming profanities at a camera. But then again, the internet loathes intelligence, and praises idiotic pleasures.”

 _There you are, you little shit. Time to punch it in the dick_. “Ouch.” Mark folded his arms. “You realize I've heard worse from much closer sources, right? Your insults are a fart in the wind.”

“Ah,” the voice kept its smile. “That's right. You have your own demon to contend with, don't you.” It made a drawn out motion toward him like sniffing the air, and sighed, picking up the presence of that other powerful darkness. “I can sense it. You've controlled it, but it's still there lurking inside you. Hm. Intriguing.”

Mark looked disgusted, and unnerved. “Uch. And none of your gosh damn business.” This thing could detect the Somni of Dark inside him --which meant this Terrorling was of the same class it once held. “Not gonna lie, I feel a little violated.”

“I don't know what the hell you're doing, but it's creeping me out,” Blue held up her hammer. “Let her go. Now!”

“I'd rather not.”

“Hey,” Jade held out their knives, “How do you know about Mark anyway? She can't remember anything of the waking world.”

“I am her memories, her failures, and her fears. All of it is mine. She let me in long ago. Only here, in this world, did I have the strength to finally...” it tucked a lock of straight, dirty blonde hair away from Sun's face, “...help her. She resisted me for a while, but eventually I got past her defenses. I won.”  
"Sun, don't listen to it!" Peach called out.

“’Sun;’ an oddly fitting name for a worthless girl like her. The sun is something that the world takes for granted, but will never truly see.”

“Uh yeah,” Jade snarked, “Because you'll burn your eyes out.”

The Demonling rolled its eyes. “It's a metaphor, dear. Try and keep up.”

  
"Who are you?" Red demanded. "Quit hiding and grow some balls!"

  
“A face reveal? Oh, why not.” It slipped away enough for them to see it shift from the native wraith-like Terrorling form to a silhouette with vague outlines of clothing and hair resembling Sun's. A black aura surrounded it, casting an eerie illumination onto the silhouette itself. An arrogant mien painted its face, and within its eyes shone a jaundice-yellow iris within inky-black sclera holding a dark light of their own for ransom.

  
"Is that--" Blue gasped.

  
“Yup.” Years of knowledge and experience went into Mark's next words. "That's a Somni overtaken by a Demonling."

“Like what happened to you?” Purple uttered softly.

He nodded.

  
Its existence made sense. Sun had been lost in the dream world for a full year. Normally Hero Class level individuals are the only ones who could create a Somni, but Sun's unique circumstance seemed to have allowed one to form. A Demonling latched onto it and festered within her for a long time – perhaps residing within her even before she fell into a coma. 

  
The Demonling's face cracked in a fake smile. “Since you call her Sun, then I am Shadow. I am the voice that tells her no one's going to care. Why bother? There's no point. If you're not gifted with perfect genetics, you have no chance. I am the truth of her reality. I am the power in this world that she craves. You're precious Sun is collateral damage in a game played by others.” Shadow prowled slowly around Sun and hovered its hand over the light bulb threateningly without ever touching the surface. Its palm absorbed the glow beneath it like a black hole. "As long as there is light, I will exist to extinguish it."

“Sun, it's ok. We'll get you out of this. Stay with us. Stay strong.” Peach readied her staff and a spell.

Shadow soothed into Sun's ear. “It's an empty promise like all the rest. Helping you makes them feel better about themselves. They're using you. They'll give you a second of their time for a pep talk of how you matter, and then they'll abandon you. But I will never leave you. I'm always with you.”

Sun's arms tightened around the bulb. The pink glow from her left sleeve dimmed slightly.

Mark grit his teeth. They didn't have much time left.

“Shut up!” Blue yelled. “That isn't true. We want to help you because we care. It's who we are. It's why we do this. You have a heart on your sleeve just like us. You're stronger than this, Sun! We know you can fight this thing!”

“You don't even know her,” Shadow's words sliced through the void. “You're so convinced that she's this sweet, innocent doll,” It laughed. “She could be cruel and spiteful for all you know. She could be a true asshole. Her weak, caring, hopeless persona could be an act to manipulate you into thinking she's a wonderful human being.”

“Yeah, that's a pile of shit,” Jade came back. “Straight up lies.”

“We'll get to know you, Sun,” Purple said. “Those leaves back at the Glen, that was the plant lady, wasn't it. The bulb was on the ground, because you let her feel the sun again. And those Rowbots had patches of rust cleaned off their joints that looked recent. You did that. You cared enough to help people along your way, and that means you're a good person. That scarf around your neck is a gift because that Rowbot believed in you. Listen to us, Sun. We might not know the details about you, but you have a good heart. We can all see it. You're not worthless.”

Sun mouthed the words with barely any sound. “Help me.”

Blue's eyes widened. “We're here! Hold on, Sun!”

“Don't you get it, you pathetic child? You've already lost. She's mine!” It breathed the next phrase like a curse. “She'll fulfill her purpose here, and as promised, her suffering will end. And I will thrive with her power.” Shadow's fingers pet slowly down Sun's left arm.

“You'll have to get through us first!” Purple screamed a war cry and ran past her friends right for Sun, intending pulling her out of the red square.

Shadow lifted Sun's right arm and whispered in her ear. Sun inhaled, and gasped as she felt energy pull from her core to her hand, and out.

Purple slammed into a pale blue disk 6 feet tall and four feet wide. Ripples of light spread out over its surface. She fell back to the wet floor, crying out in pain.  
"Purple!" Blue rush over to help her. "Are you ok?"

  
"Yeah," Purple grimaced. She'd been hit in battle before, but this dream turned every sensation into a replica of reality. Their entire journey here let her understand how Sun thought this was the waking world. "I had to test a theory. That Demonling is using her energy like Dark used Mark to fight us. Ow...that really hurt."

  
"But Dark was literally using Mark. Sun and Shadow are separate," Peach spun her staff and ignited the end with small whirlwind. "Which means we can take it out without worrying about hurting her."

  
"No, look," Mark pointed, keeping his voice down.

  
They watched as Shadow drifted into Sun. She lowered her hand, dissipating the shield, and remained still as it moved out of her again. The heart on her sleeve dimmed.

  
Red's face stiffened in shock. "That's not right."

  
"It's strong enough to leave her, but It can't stay out of her for long," Mark shuddered, remembering what that felt like. "It still needs her. If we can draw it out and keep it out, we'll have a chance."

  
Blue helped Purple to her feet. "Then we confuse the hell out of it. Red, Peach, Jade; flank 'em. Mark, Purple; make a hole." She hefted her hammer and at a silent signal, the group split.

  
Shadow forced Sun to turn and create a new shield against Peach's magic attack. She stumbled backwards. A scream of horror left her before Shadow retook control, and forced her around again to block Mark, then Red, then Jade repeatedly. It moved Sun like a puppet, using the shield and trying to predict each attack.  
Yet it only used the shield. It never tried an attack move.

  
Jade's knives slashed across its body. Purple's white magic missed, but it distracted Shadow enough for Mark to come up from behind with a second strike. Red's sword crashed against the shield.

He pushed hard, staring into her wide green eyes. His anger fueled him, but he could see her confusion and fear reflected back. She'd didn't want to fight. "Blue!"  
Blue took the shot from behind and rammed her hammer home.

  
Shadow let out a shriek that coursed through Sun and took her to her knees. The shield fell. It retreated into Sun through her back. A pulse of energy shot out that knocked them all off their feet. Shadow had turned the shield into a shock wave using Sun's energy.

  
The six dream travelers groaned and pushed themselves back up.

  
"No, stop it," Sun protected the light bulb. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt," she squeaked.

  
"They asked for this," Shadow growled through Sun's voice. They'd dealt enough damage to force the Demonling to recover within her, and that angered it.  
Sun's eyes filled with the black poison of Shadow's possession. "So," it made her stand, making sure to keep a tight hold on the light bulb. That item was essential to its plan. “You want to play?” it smirked. “Let's play.” Its malicious chuckle turned into a hollow evil laugh that reverberated around the room.

  
The light 'splish splash' of multiple foot impacts echoed in the darkness, closing in from all around them. Yellow eyes winked to life at various heights. Shadowlings, Gooplings, Proxies—dozens of them lurched in like zombies from the inky dreamscape.

  
"Well, titty sprinkles," Mark cursed.

  
Jade swallowed hard. "I had a witty comeback, but it got lost in the chorus of 'we're fucked' in my head.'

  
The group formed a circle, facing down the encroaching enemy with their weapons at the ready. The Terrorlings pulled out of the darkness like the black abyss itself birthed them.

  
Purple let out a small meep, her eyes so wide she looked like she would pass out. "T-there's too many of them. We've never fought this many."

  
"We can do this," Blue pushed bravery into her words, pulled from her core, and her promise to never lose anyone again, even if it meant she had to fight until she couldn't lift her arms. The image of Teal turning her back on her would stay with her forever. "We need a buff. Can you up everyone's defense."

  
She nodded and held her staff up, willing herself to concentrate on her team surrounding her and focusing on protection. A few quick words left her lips. In half a second, a spiral of white energy swirled upward from the feet of each person up to their head, and dissipated.

  
Red cracked his neck. "Let's do this. Your ass is mine!" Red charged forward, sweeping his blade in an arch fueled by fire magic at the closest Terrorlings.  
The sounds of battle rang all around them. Blue swung her hammer at anything sinister that got within five feet of her. Mark landed punch after kick, and even a suplex for flare. Peach sent electricity and scythes of wind through the horde, cutting down the weaker ones immediately. Jade sliced down a Proxie lunging for Purple. Its arms splashed against the floor and it poofed in a scream of rage.

  
Though they were dealing an incredible amount of damage, they were also taking damage, and using healing spells and items.

  
"You have a task to fulfill," Shadow commanded. "Are you going to run away again, or are you going to finish this? Do what you have to do."

  
It left her enough control to nod and exhale. "I'll finish this," her voice quivered from the shock of watching the battle and being unable to move on her own accord. Her heart pounded. Maybe if she made the right choice here, they wouldn't get hurt anymore.

  
"Good," Shadow whispered, pleased. "Then let's go."  
Sun held out her right hand. The black clover amulet rested on her palm.

  
Purple knocked a Goopling to the ground, and disintegrated it with a burst of magic. She glanced back to the tile where Sun watched...or rather, where Shadow observed her entertainment. "That X.. The X! Blue!" Purple scrambled over to her friend, who sent two Proxies colliding into each other. "Blue! I remember! In the game, the player had to close the window and re-open it to trigger the transporter to the final stage."

  
"But there's no player." Blue rammed her hammer into the torso of a Shadowling. It poofed upon impact. "She's been hearing Shadow this whole time. There's no window to close."

  
Purple hurried her explanation. "The dream will use something else instead. There's no other way."

  
Blue looked back at the red tile. Sun stood in the center with her arm out. The yellow phosphor glow of something small expanded in a golden aura that bled in with the light bulb. A slim chain dangled from her fingers. "The clover.” Her eyes snapped open. “It's the black clover! One of the pieces of the old sun! She's using that!"

  
"We can't stop her in time!" Purple sent two more Shadowlings to their maker, and huffed from the magic expenditure. "If we lose her here, we'll lose her for good. We can't reach the summit."

  
A crazy, stupid, and irrational idea blew up in Blue's mind. Her head swiveled frantically, looking for the right target. Spotting Mark a little ways away, she grinned mischievously. "Oh yes, we will." She set her hammer--head down--on the wet floor with the handle sticking up. “Purple. Strength Buff me.”  
Purple focused on the strongest buff she could summon, and cast it around her leader.

  
“Perfect.” Blue grinned, flexing her hands. “Mark!”

Mark rammed a Proxie out of his way, pulled a small dagger from his item menu, and freed the wraith of its obligation to own a head. It poofed into ash, then dispersed into smoke. He turned his attention toward her, ready to team up for whatever attack combo she had in mind.

Blue sprinted right for him. "Think of a landing strategy and get the amulet away from Sun!"

  
"Huh? Whu-UUT THE FUCK??" He didn't have time to think before Blue shouldered him up over her head.

  
She spun, gained momentum, and launched him like a discus straight for the red tile. "YEET!"

"Oh," Purple watched him flail his arms over the Terrorlings. "Like last time with the barrel. It's because he's short, isn't it."

  
"That's one reason," Blue slouched, getting her energy back. The buff helped, but that still took a lot to lift a whole person, not to mention throw them. The other was that Purple and Peach were providing the primary magic kills and buffs, and Jade and Red were too far away tag-teaming –not to mention Red wasn't the best at diplomacy.

But the main reason was the most important: Mark had personally gone through a similar experience. He could reach her on a level they couldn't understand.   
Mark soared like a screaming bird on the wind. As for a landing strategy...hitting the red tile and rolling to a stop at Sun's feet seemed to work. The impact jarred through his body. He wouldn't be surprised if he woke up with real bruises.

  
Sun staggered back to avoid being bowled over just as the amulet in her palm flashed three times. A bright light encompassed them.  
Mark snatched the amulet away from her and threw it to his friends a split second before the transporter activated, pulling them upward. They were gone in a breath.

  
The amulet bounced and splashed through the water.

Blue picked it up. “Save her, Mark.” She clutched it in her palm. “We're right behind you.” She quickly put it around her neck. “Everyone get to the X as fast as you can!”  
And with a war cry to frighten the bravest Amazon warriors, Blue lifted her hammer and charged into the fray.

 

 

 

\------------  
TBC                                                 


	7. Lifeline: part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Sun reach the summit of the central tower. The battle for her life begins with a 'Dark' interference.

_The summit..._

A pillar of white light beamed up from the floor with the forms of two individuals inside: Sun in mid back-stop looking down at Mark on his side with his arm stretched out and fingers spread. He'd barely managed to throw the amulet out of the red tile just before the transporter swept them up hundreds of feet—maybe thousands in the dream world—to the tower’s summit.

They materialized on a smooth off-white floor polished to a dull mirror finish. The walls of the hexagonal room bore the same sheen. There were no windows or doors, or any indication of a way in or out except up. The room had no ceiling. Above them existed only a pitch-black starless sky.

The only decor in the medium-sized room was a raised pedestal on a plinth extending up from the center like it grew from the floor. It owned nothing but a perfectly round hole cut into the flat surface.

The transporter dispersed, making the only visible illumination that of the giant yellow bulb cradled in Sun's arms. Flecks of its light absorbed into the walls.

Freed, she stumbled backwards.

Mark groaned and got to his feet. “I can’t believe she fucking threw me.” He worried his upper back muscles. “That’s gonna leave a mark.” He would need to spend extended time in the infirmary after this trip before waking up.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah—Sun?” In that one second, she'd managed to get an increment beyond Shadow's control, and Mark noticed this. She fought because she cared. He sobered up quickly. “Listen. You have to put the light bulb down gently. You can't let this thing win or you’ll—“

“Ah, time's up,” Shadow's umbrage exuded from Sun's vocal chords. For the first time, it took on its true tone –a distorted dissonance mirroring that of Dark’s. Sun was gone again, thrust to the back of her mind. “She won't be doing anything of the sort.”

He scooted his right foot back, turning slightly—mostly to give Shadow less of a target area. He hadn't planned on fighting this boss battle alone. Although he could hold his own for a while, if Sun gave in to the darkness completely, even he would be hard-pressed to defeat a Somni-Demonling mano a mano. Especially one exposed continuously to the dream world for an entire year gaining power from its host.

“Fight it, Sun. It's the Terrorling using any part of you it can find. This isn't you. It doesn't speak for you.”

“Don't you ever quit?” Shadow shot in ire.

“I don't know the meaning of the word. And I have two dictionaries, Purple, and Google.”

“Give up, Mark. Learn to cut your losses.”

“Never.” He tightened his jaw. “For as long as I'm alive –and even after if possible—I will be here to annoy the shit out of little anus nuggets like you.”

“She's mine,” bellicosity stained her retort. “Her heart is dead. The world is a harsh, unforgiving place that steps on anyone with any amount of empathy, and she,” Shadow-in-Sun's-body stepped confidently over face to face with the other spirit, “has a lot of it. So much so that she can feel the knotted mess of other peoples emotions.”

He stood his ground and locked eyes with the Demonling. A slim black line of liquid seeped from the lower lids of her eyes. “Is that what you used to peek in on me, huh? You used Sun's ability to break her, and then hacked into it?”

Shadow backed up. “A little, maybe. But as soon as you got near enough to her in the Glen, you were easy to detect. You’re like a lighthouse in the fog to me. I haven't run across one of my own kind worthy enough to warrant my attention in a very long time. You're powerful, perhaps stronger than me, though I doubt it.”

“Your parlor trick isn't impressive anymore.”

“I'm not talking to you,” Shadow spat. “I'm talking to Him. I want to meet the one strong enough to break through the defenses of someone like you. How long did it take for him to wear you down? A month? A year? What happened that triggered it?”

“Mmm, nope, nope, not happening. You're not going to get what you want. Not from me, and not from Sun.”

Shadow shrugged. “It’s more than likely I'll loathe the bastard anyway since he's part of you, and I despise you, but call it curiosity.”

He brought up double birds between them, and growled, “How about you take some of these, and go fuck yourself.”

She scowled in antipathy at being denied. “Have it your way. I'll see him sooner or later. You're only human. Eventually, you'll lose. Again. Now, be a good boy and go sit over there.” Her right arm snapped up in a flash, and the semi transparent shield formed against her forearm. She twisted Sun's body to the left and slammed the shield against his right side just as he lifted his arm to block it. The Terrorling's strength sent him to the floor.

“Ah!” Mark clutched at his side. There wasn't anything to break, but he didn't like how strong the sensation of pain was in this dream. His mind worked around the skills and items he possessed, trying to find a way to stall for time so his team could get here, or start fighting if he had to.

Sun gasped lightly from another act of violence she'd been forced through against a friend and curled up within herself. _No, stop it. Please._ She didn't even know him, but he seemed familiar. His voice was the anchor continuously pulling her back. Why? Who was this guy? Why was she so willing to listen to the words of a stranger? Why did she trust him? _Who are you, Mark?_ she thought. _Who the hell are you?!_

Shadow threw her into the sense of the darkness within him so fast it made her dizzy. It froze her in place, surrounding her in a nautilus of malice. Though theirs were different, they had a base similarity: No one means anything they tell you. It's all superficial garbage. No one actually cares. They'll throw you away as soon as they're done with you.

Shadow let go of control enough for its host to go through with the plan on her own. It withdrew from her and stepped aside, becoming its own void in the dim light.

Sun lifted the light bulb.

“Now,” the Somni-Demonling brushed its hand lovingly down Sun's hair. Their twin scarves moved synchronously. “You have a choice. You can return the sun if you wish, or,” its lilt sweetened, “you can smash the light bulb and destroy all of the pain in your heart. You can leave this place forever.”

“Smash it?” she questioned. “But…what about everyone here? Without the sun, they'll—“

“To hell with them,” Shadow paced around the plinth, dragging its hand along the cold surface. “They're of no concern to you. They're not even real. Don't you want to leave this dream and wake up?”

Sun paused. “Not even real?” she whispered. She glanced back to Mark, remembering what he said in the lobby. “This really is a dream?”

He got to his feet, still protecting his ribs and spoke seriously. “Yes. You've been dreaming for one year.” He took a step forward. “In that time, because of your situation--I'm guessing--you were able to create a Somni that this bag of piss latched onto. It fed you lies and negativity the whole time. It used you.”

He paused, lowering his arm and standing straight, though his voice softened. “You're in a coma, Sun.”

Her jaw slacked. “What...? But... I would know, I would...” and yet her words lacked the strength to convince herself.

“Niko was the protagonist of a game called 'One Shot.' Your dream is based on it. He...I... made the decision for him to save the world and return the sun. He paid the price for that decision. I'm not sure if Niko died, or if he remained trapped, but this is not a game. It feels real to you because it is real to you. You're in a coma. If you go through with either choice, you might not make it out alive.”

Sun's arms lowered as she watched him, now confused and debating what to do.

Shadow sensed this and returned to its host, retaking control. “Can you not? She has a job to do. I know this request is particularly tough for you, but **shut up**.”

His team still hadn't arrived. _Dammit, where are you? Come on guys, I need you_. He hoped they were all right. Without that amulet, he had no way to get back to their location to help if they were in trouble. He knew they wouldn't use the Markihorn to summon him, either, because Blue literally hurled him at the problem. They weren't going to throw away their only chance to save her life. All he could do was trust that they'd get here.

The Demonling returned her attention to the pedestal. She lifted the bulb again.

“Ok!” Mark held out his hand. “Ok, stop. You win, Shadow,” he lowered his arm. “You want Dark? I'll give him to you.”

Sun's face cracked in a fake smile. “I think I can pause for that.”

A thick silence settled in the room.

She shifted her balance to her left foot and tapped her right. “I’m waiting.”

“You first.”

“Excuse me?”

“Leave Sun.”

“Up yours.”

“Fine then,” He folded his arms. “No leave-y, no Dark-y.”

Shadow made Sun huff an exasperated sigh, and shifted away to her left. The demon stood apart from its host. “Make it fast.”

The six footsteps it took to cross the room to the pedestal lasted an eternity on their own. He got within an arms reach of the Somni-Demonling.

“No,” The words caught in Sun's throat. Her limbs were heavy. She couldn't move to stop him. “Mark, don't.”

Mark's eyes slid halfway closed as he let out a long breath in concentration.

When he looked up, he clasped his hands at the nape of his back, and tilted his head slightly to each side. “Finally. I’ve waited a long time to be in control again. Watching the world through his pathetic eyes is tiresome.”

Shadow’s pleasure at facing down the other powerful entity glinted in her blackened eyes. “Welcome back,” she purred his name like a venomous spell, “Dark.”

 

 

\-----------

TBC

 


	8. Lifeline: part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two alpha Somni face off, but there’s a catch that triggers the boss fight. Is this the end?

 

He kept his hands behind his back in an air of superiority. “You wanted to see me. Well, here I am. Shadow, was it?”

“Yes,” pride filled her answer. “It’s an honor to meet the one who brought the great and annoying King of the Nerds to his knees,” she regarded him with caution, but confidence as one Alpha to another. “To be honest, I didn’t think he’d let you out so willingly. I’m surprised he’d put himself at risk just for this worthless girl.”

“He has a bleeding heart. It sickens me.”

She eyed his posture, and frowned slightly. “You’re…less than what I’d thought you’d be. What happened to your power? Where's that strength I sensed before?”

“Did you call me out just to insult me, or is there a point to this?” He slid his foot back, making her follow him one very slow step at a time. “Either tell me what you want, or get out of my sight.”

Shadow wouldn’t allow him to gain any distance. “Getting right to it. I like that. There is a point, actually. I wanted to look into the eyes of the one who suppressed him and see if you measured up to the hype. If you truly are my equal, or simply a poser lucky enough to catch that insufferable bastard on a bad day.”

“Satisfied?”

She made her call like someone judging an underdone steak. “You're weak, but not entirely disappointing.”

“I wish I could say the same about you.”

She chuckled. “A lesser being insulting me. Hilarious. You can't even leave your host. He still has control over you. Right now, you wouldn't stand a chance against me.”

His lips formed a thin line. “Right now, maybe. But my full potential will crush you.”

“I’ve kept her in a coma for a year. Do you really want to test me?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Gladly. But now’s not the time or place. Only a little bitch baby makes that challenge knowing they have the upper hand. Where’s the fun in that?” He stopped moving, dropping his voice to a sinister growl. “It goes to show how inconsequential _you_ really are.”

“Spoken like a true asshole.”

“You expected anything less?”

She stepped up inches away from his face—two vipers facing off. A spark of rivalry crackled the air between them. “I don’t like you.”

“The feeling is mutual,” He paused. “Still, I am personally thrilled to meet one of my biggest fans; the colossal ice queen.”

Shadow’s expression morphed from confusion, to annoyance, to ‘pissed off.’

“Ah fuck it.” Mark dropped the act, hauled off and landed a right hook shot across its face.

Shadow reeled from the hit.

Its surprise provided the perfect chance for his next attack. “Zapdos! Go!” The explosive sound of an Ultra Ball burst to life at its feet.

He sprinted past it and tackled Sun to get her out of the way.

The light bulb jarred from her hands when she hit the ground and bounced along the surface, letting out a hollow ‘ping’ as it wobbled into the obtuse angle of the wall. Without her touch, the light faded down to a pale pinprick of yellow in the center –less than when she found it in the Barrens.

The Demonling shrieked within a flurry of electrical strikes. Bolt after bolt speared through to the ground, igniting the room in rapid strobe light pulses like a basement rave.

It slumped once the onslaught ended. Rivulets of steam drifted upward from its body, and haggard breaths rasped from its gaping mouth.

The room plunged into a blanket of night.

Sun stared wide-eyed at him. The warm light from the heart on his sleeve dyed the left side of his face and upper body pink. The pathetic color from hers was feeble in comparison. She’d noticed it before, but only without the light bulb present.

“Are you ok?”

The need to escape crashed through her. Thinking that monster she’d sensed still controlled him terrified her enough to blur her vision—a trauma trigger. She scrambled back on her hands, frightened of him. “Get away!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, whoa, hey whoa. Whoa. Easy. It’s me, I swear.”

“M-Mark...? ” that act was perfect. She’d believed it. “But…Dark… I thought you’d really caved.”

“I wouldn’t let that asshole out for its own birthday party.” He gave her a reassuring smile and touched her shoulder gently. “I’ve got it under lock and key, so don’t worry.”

Her normal reply to his performance—or what she thinks is normal—would have been ‘Damn, Skippy,’ but all her voice would produce was a small ‘meep’ of confirmation. This whole situation had her on edge.

“You,” Shadow’s voice heaved in rage in the darkness. “You bastard!”

Mark took up a defensive position in front of Sun, holding his right arm out in protection as he faced the darkened room.

“How dare you play me for a fool,” it growled low. “You’ll pay for that.” Shadow melted into the darkness.

“Oh boy,” His eyes darted in every direction, straining to use the illumination from their arms to see. He needed to get the light bulb back, but he couldn’t let Sun go yet, not when he’d finally coaxed the Somni-Demonling out of her body. He needed to weaken it before he could let it near her again.

Suspense creeped up his spine, brought to life by one of the few things he absolutely hated about horror games: Random chance. Being stalked in a dark enclosed space with no exit by a powerful enemy that will kill you if it attacks and your HP is low.

This scared him more now than any time so far on their entire journey. Her life was at stake if he failed.

The sound of it drifting through the room mirrored the flutter of silk in the wind.

He stood gradually, bringing Sun up with him. “Stay behind me.”

She gripped his shoulders, though he could feel her trembling.

Shadow’s cold, sadistic laugh bounced around the room, hiding its location and sending needles of fear through the two spirits.

His eyes and ears strained to track it, jolting toward each sound to keep it in front of him. This is what prey felt like being hunted by a predator. “Uh, I hate this,” he mumbled. “I hate this. I hate this. I hate this…”

A ripple of motion caught in his left peripheral within the halo of pink. He spun to meet it. It darted to his right. And then… silence.

He grit his teeth, his heart pounding, and his palms layered in cold sweat. His and Sun’s breathing sounded too loud. He swallowed.

Shadow lunged at him from the blackness. The ring of pink light cast a ghostly shade over its features and ignited the darklight in its eyes.

They screamed in surprised and lurched to the side.

Its cold hands clenched around his neck.

Air hitched in his throat. He snared its scarf, yanked it toward him, and plowed his fist into its gut. He thrust both hands between its arms, striking outward at its wrists to loosen its grip, and landed a sharp punch to its jaw.

Shadow disappeared into the darkness again.

Freed, he worried at his sore neck, breathing hard. Thank god he spent time in the training room to learn break-away tactics.

It circled them like a shark, craving revenge before returning to its host body. Its voice hummed in the void. “Two can play the deception game, Mark. I made sure she felt everything when I reached out to Dark. She had no choice. She knows the evil you hide, now.”

He sensed its eyes bore holes into him, and felt Sun’s grip tighten in shame.

“Your secret's out.”

“Five people already know. What's one more? Besides, now she knows I’m not lying when I say I understand. Good job, Shadow. You actually did me a favor.”

Shadow dove at him again.

He backpedaled, forcing Sun to do the same. An obvious idea hit him so hard he felt like he needed to go back to elementary school. “Sun, get the bulb,” he ordered.

She let go of his shirt.

“Go! Now!”

She dashed across the hexagonal room to the front angled walls where the bulb rested. The pinpoint light inside was almost imperceptible.

At a thought—like a feeling—he flicked his finger down in the air at chest level and called up his menu window.

The room burst into white screen-glare brightness. He jumped back in terror as it lit up Shadow’s face merely three feet from his own. “Ah! Fuckin’! Fuck!”

It shrank back from the light in an animalistic howl.

Stealing his chance, he hastily removed the slice of toast from his item list, closed it, and shoved it in his pocket.

Sun pulled the bulb into the circle of her arms, and stood. Its glow grew once more until the room was again filled with its golden hue.

Shadow’s hands curled into claws as it drew itself up.

Mark balled up his fists, and charged.

It avoided his first punch, but not his second, third, and uppercut. It staggered, whipping its head to the left from the impact. It didn’t use any skills on him, or even the shield. It might be strong enough to leave Sun for a modicum of time, but it still needed to manipulate her body to use her power.

He kept himself between her and Shadow as much as possible. He couldn’t let it retreat back into her. Not yet.

It swung at him, catching him in the gut, and grabbed a hold of his collar.

He pulled the silver dagger Wilford 'sold' to him before this mission from a hidden sheath at the nape of his back – Fate Sealer. Shadow’s previous distraction before his Oscar winning performance gave him the time he needed to pull it and the ultra ball from his inventory and hide them behind his back. He swept the dagger upward, across, down, up, and back.

Thick miasma poured from each cut like blood vapor.

Shadow shrieked at the last strike up its chest. It wavered drunkenly; stunned and gripping its own form as if to hold itself together.

Time to end this.

Mark devoured the toast. Its strength boost ability spread through him in a heartbeat, and before Shadow could retaliate with another attack, he launched his fist like a battering ram into its chest.

The Terrorling exploded in a burst of dense smoke. The Somni faded back to Sun. On its tail, the weakened Demonling converged in a spiral of dark energy back to the protection of her body to merge with the Somni again.

The force of the intrusion almost caused her to drop the light bulb. However, for now, she remained in control. Mark managed to severely damage the Demonling so much that it lost its ability to exist outside her. It was now fully dependent on her.

He knew there was precious time left before it would take control again. He sheathed the dagger, rushed over and gripped her shoulder. “You need to fight it. Look at me,” he cupped her small face in both hands. “Sun, look at me!”

Her gaze moved to meet his. She was already resisting the Demonling’s attempts to take over. “Mark,” her whisper quivered, “I’m scared.”

“I know,” he hushed, keeping the urgency, but draping a layer of empathy over his words. “Believe me. I know better than anyone what’s happening to you right now. I’ve felt that thing crawling through my head, too, and it’s scary as fuck. It becomes so loud that it’s the only thing you can hear, and it’s painful. I hear that same voice every day. Some days it’s louder than others, but it’s a voice that only you can control. You have the power to tell it to fuck off.”

“What it says, it—“

“Is wrong.” He covered the heart on her sleeve with his left hand. Faint pink light bled between his fingers and around the edge of his palm. “This is the mark of the hero. You have it because it’s proof that you are strong enough. Your heart is not dead. Wounded and torn, but not dead.”

Her eyes flicked to his left shoulder and the bright illumination on his own sleeve.

“You have something inside your heart that can’t be killed. It allows you to reach out to others and that’s what everyone sees. That power belongs to you and no one else. You’re stronger than that Terrorling is, and it knows that. That’s why it wants you to give up. You are the only one who can give the darkness power. You’ve made it this far, Sun. You’ve survived in the dream world for a year, and that alone proves you are more than what you think. I believe in you. You can do this.”

She heard him. Even though at this point, her control disappeared to the will of the Terrorling, his words still reached through to her. They echoed around her so clearly, she felt she could reach out and grab them if she tried. She looked up in the void, her knees pulled up to her chest.

_I believe in you. You can do this._

In her mind, she reached out to the darkness.

Shadow gripped Mark’s wrist and twisted it tightly. “Nice try, Hero. Points for effort.” Using Sun’s skill, she summoned the shield again in a final arc blast that sent him careening across the room into the wall.

That toast gave him the strength to deal incredible damage and take that wraith down where it needed to be, but it also diminished his defenses. If he could see an HP bar, a good chunk of it would slide down into the red. Adding that might not be a bad idea.

His wrist throbbed in pain too real to be a dream.

“You don’t give two shits about her, so stop pretending that you care!” Shadow snarled. “You can't save her! Get that through your fucknormous head! Your only value lies in sustaining the existence of one of my kind that you allowed to form. You, like her, are just a Host. So, shut up and remember your true role.” She turned her back on him with as much attention as one gives a dying insect and approached the pedestal again. “You're not a hero. You never were. You're just a guy who got good at playing the game.”

That stung. But, like the rest of her words, he knew it was crafted to get under his skin. To hell with her, and her bitchery. He groaned, getting to his knees and clutching his ribs, “I won't abandon you to this thing, Sun, I swear it. I’m not going anywhere. I know you can hear me,” His teams’ voices got through to him when he was in her position, so he knew the same to be true with her.

“Funny you should say that,” Shadow spoke. “Yours was the last voice she heard before she fell asleep.” She turned Sun’s head slightly to face him. “And it’ll be the last one she hears for good. Ironic, isn't it.”

“Sun...”

The teleporter suddenly activated in a column of light shooting up from the floor by the back wall. Five damaged and weary people materialized within its core.

Red lay on his back with his head in Peach’s lap, knocked out.

Purple was out of magic energy, and had given Jade the last half heart in her inventory.

They were all out of assist items and ultra balls.

“Mark!” Blue scrambled over to her friend and knelt by his side to help him up.

His heart soared at the sight of them. They were all right. He had confidence in his team to be able to not die. “What took you guys so long?” He pulled up his menu and removed the half and full hearts he had left, along with a bottle of hot sauce. He pushed a full heart against her collarbone, then gave her the rest. “Give these to the team.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Here.” Blue pressed one of the full hearts against his chest and let it melt through to work to heal his injuries before he could object. He was part of her team, after all, and the leader, she had just as much responsibility to him as to the others. She hurried back to help her friends.

Red coughed from the hot sauce. “Fuck me. I hate this stuff.”

“How are we alive?” Jade looked around.

Blue spotted the girl in the center of the room. “Sun...” She raised her voice, “Sun, we’re here! We’re not going to let you fight alone!”

Mark got back to his feet and joined his team, who all struggled to get back up. They’d fought an intense battle, and it showed.

“Those black squares started appearing everywhere. Thanks to Purple’s light, we avoided them, and we figured it out,” Peach softly said to Mark. She helped Jade to their feet. “This world is falling apart because it’s connected to Sun, and she’s losing the fight. That light bulb is her life. If she shatters it--”

“She’ll die,” He'd already put it together, but he didn't want to voice it. She'll succumb to the darkness for good, and Shadow will be in complete control. What's left of Sun will live in the void. If Sun wakes up from her coma, then what will exist in the waking world will be the darkest part of her soul. If she couldn't wake up, then Shadow will be free to do as she pleases in the dream world.

If taken literally, she'll loose her will to stay alive in this coma and her body will die.

His gaze fell on the long-haired figure at the pedestal. “I’ve done everything I can. I know I got through to her. It’s up to her, now.”

Shadow raised the light bulb. It ignored the newcomers. They were damaged, and wouldn’t last against it in a fight with Sun’s energy powering the only skill that girl learned in the dream world to protect herself –her shield.

It gave back enough control for her to make the decision on her own. _B_ _reak it_ , the lambent tone of Shadow's whisper licked her mind. She felt the Somni-Demonling hybrid shift in eager anticipation. _End_ _your suffering_.

These thoughts she'd heard all of her life were given a voice—her own ice-cold heartless voice.

“Sun!” Blue shouted. “Don't do it, please! We’re here for you!”

_You smile, and laugh, and goof around, but inside you know it's all fake. You've been acting for so long, you don't know what being 'real' is anymore. Because you're not pretty enough. You're not talented enough. You're not passionate enough. You're not dedicated enough. You. Are not. Enough. So keep smiling. Keep faking it. Because the real you isn’t worth anyone’s time. You will forever be alone._

Black tears streamed down Sun's pale cheeks. She held the fragile light bulb high even as the glow from the heart on her sleeve faded.

This Demonling—a collection of her thoughts whispering to her for years—relished in the inner turmoil of its host. _You are weak, but I am everything you could never be. I will give you the power you desire._

She thought of the beings she’d met in this world, and the other humans she’d come across in her year running from the darkness.

_Do it. Shatter the bulb. Let me in and you won’t have to feel this pain ever again._

Her heart thundered in her chest. She had to do this. She had to finish it. Her frustration, anger, sorrow, fear, and the last shreds of bravery she owned boiled up into a scream from her soul that drowned out Shadow. The only thing she heard was Mark's powerful yet simple phrase rising above the rest.

'I believe in you. You can do this.'

She held onto that for every ounce her life was worth, and plunged the light bulb downward.

“No!” Blue rushed forward, arm outstretched. Tears pooled at her eyes. She couldn’t lose another one. Not again.

The light bulb clicked perfectly into the slot on top of the plinth. Sun quickly locked it down a half second before Shadow took control of her body again, slamming her to the back of her mind.

The bulb brightened, flooding the room with light.

Everyone shielded their eyes from the brilliance. They cringed, waiting to be forced back to consciousness if this dream ended.

Shadow’s wail of defeat deafened her. Sun sobbed within the void, terrified that her decision had killed her.

Rays of sunlight shot upward, amplified by the reflective surfaces of the hexagon room, and poured across the black sky.

The robots of the Barrens regained their power.

Flecks of daylight glistened off the vast ocean, and lines of crepuscular rays split through the phosphor trees of the Glen. The city was bathed in the breathtaking glow of the most powerful source of yellow phosphor in this world: Life.

Every black square it touched dissolved like sugar in water, restoring anything caught in them.

The world repaired itself within the first sunrise it had seen in a year.

It's purpose complete, the light bulb settled down to a less blinding level.

The dream travelers risked opening their eyes.

“No matter what you do, you’ll never be rid of me!” Shadow screamed with Sun's voice. “I am the only strength you have! You’re worthless without me!”

Sun stood within the void of her mind. “Shut up! I am not worthless! He believes in me, and I'll do everything I can to prove him right! Get out! _Get out!_ ”

Her force of will ripped the Demonling away from the Somni. Thick black ink oozed from her eyes to pool on the floor at her feet.

The weakened Terrorling writhed in the sunlight as a puddle of congealed goop. It screeched in rage and defeat. It bubbled and popped, evaporating into a thick miasma that swirled around her, too weak to break past her defense, and escaped through the open roof back into the dream world.

The Somni known as ‘Shadow’ suppressed in the back of Sun’s mind.

Sun exhaled, put back into control and her vision cleared. Her hands slipped from the light bulb wearily to the pedestal's surface.

“Sun,” Mark's voice filled the room despite its softness.

She dropped to her knees, exhausted, but lighter than she’d felt in forever…at least forever in the dream world. Her body felt full of adrenaline, and she was coming down off the fight-or-flight high. But if this was the dream world, she didn't have a body. In that case, what was it?

She wiped the residual gunk from her eyes with trembling hands. “Uch. Gross.”

Jade pumped their fist in victory. “Yes! F to pay respects.”

Purple side-eyed them. “Really.”

Blue knelt next to her. Scratches and bruises marred her exposed skin, and her dress was torn. “You did it.”

She lifted her head to look at Blue and the group of people behind her. They’d traversed this world in search of her, put themselves at risk, and fought the Terrorlings, but they didn’t give up on her. She was worth saving after all. New, clear tears traced the tracks of the dark influence. “I’m sorry. You guys got hurt because of me. You got dragged into this, and it's all my fault. I'm sorry.”

Blue wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “No, it's not your fault. You were crying out for help. We heard you, Sun. And we came to find you.”

Sun brushed long strands of hair out of her eyes and sniffled. “I don't deserve this.”

“Yes, you do,” Red said. “You deserve to have someone there for you. Everyone does.”

“But I'm a horrible person,” she sniffled.

“It's not wrong to want validation for who you are,” Purple added softly. “It doesn't make you a bad person. It's normal. It feels good when people appreciate you and let you know.”

“Yeah,” Red continued. “It's when you become obsessed with being defined by numbers that makes someone fucking shallow. I hate that.”

Sun shook her head. “I never wanted fame. That wasn't the point of any of it. I don't remember why, but I know that fame only takes the best part of someone and destroys it. I think...I think I've seen it happen, but I don't remember who it was. I just know I don't want it. I just wanted to be heard. I wanted to feel again, I wanted to be...”

“To be loved?” Blue offered gently.

Sun nodded, wiping at her eyes.

“I get that,” Mark's voice held understanding and empathy. “I really do.”

She pressed her palm to her forehead and slumped. “Damn. My head is killing me. I feel like someone ripped my spine out and shoved it back in with staples.”

Mark moved over to crouch down next to her. “Yeah, that's part of it. You're going to feel raw and tenderize for a while. You have to let yourself rest.”

“What about Shadow?” She whispered, looking him in the eye for a truth she knew he held.

He frowned. “It'll always be there.”

Her head drooped.

“But you have the tools to fight it now. And you're not alone anymore.”

“Yeah,” Jade smiled. “You've got us, now, and we're like herpes: once you get us, you can't get rid of us.”

“Gross,” Peach wrinkled up her nose.

“Kinda accurate, really,” Red shrugged.

“Enabler,” Purple poked him in the arm.

“He's not wrong,” Mark gestured lightly.

“We're like glitter. Better analogy, same end result,” Blue chuckled.

Sun watched this exchange that came so easily to them. They played off of each other, trusted each other, and could read each other even in simple moments like this. If one person suffered, the others empathized. If one of them felt joy, the others picked up on it, too. Through times of discord and happiness, they were connected—like a family. They were there for each other, and knew that even when they were by themselves, they were never alone. It was a phenomenon of connection she never knew existed in reality.   
She didn't know who any of these people were, but they accepted her. They welcomed her and assured her she wouldn't be alone anymore. They wanted her. She...her existence...finally held value.

Her chest burned from a well of emotions rising like a tidal wave that spilled out in a waterfall of tears. Overcome from her ordeal, and from the shock of having six people accept her, she did the first thing that came naturally; she threw her arms around the nearest person--Blue--and sobbed shamelessly into her clothes.

Blue wrapped her arms around her and let her cry. She sighed in relief. They'd done it. They'd rescued Sun.

Finally, this nightmare was over.

She felt the other girl's grip on her dress loosen and her body became heavy. The sobbing turned into uneven breathing. A knot tightened in her chest. “Sun? Sun!?” She noticed the heart on her sleeve dimmed so much even a nightlight could overpower it. It flickered. “What's happening to her?”

“Her heart's going out?” Jade bit their lip. “That's a thing?”

Mark's heart dropped into his stomach. He'd seen this before. It was something he would never forget, and never wanted to witness again. “Yeah, and it's bad. Very, very bad. We have to get her back to the Hub, now.” He called up his menu window, prayed, and tapped the 'Go Home' option.

A phosphorescent blue portal swirled to life next to the pedestal, adding its watercolor shade into the mix. Thank God it worked.

He lifted her across both arms and shifted so her right arm draped around his neck and her head rested against his shoulder. Her weight didn't matter. “Stay with me, Sun. You'll be ok. We're going home.”

“Home?” she whispered. She didn't think she had a home, but it sounded wonderful.

“Do whatever you can to stay awake.”

Sun closed her eyes and focused on the strong pink glow from his left arm that bled through her lids. It was warm and comforting. A new ache pulsed in her heart. She didn’t want to leave them. She didn't really know them, but because her mission was over, and she couldn't remember anything but this world, they were all she had. Blue, Red, Jade, Peach, Purple, and Mark—she treasured them so much it hurt. Yet even so, the painful feeling of letting people in and opening her heart warmed her core. It was frightening and amazing.

She needed to live for them and for herself.

Blue lead her team through the portal and let it close on the final decision of its dreamer, forever left to shine in the dream world.

 

 


	9. Phantom Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue’s team rescued Sun from her nightmare. Now they’re faced with saving her from the ultimate end within her coma using a risky tactic that’s never been attempted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((I LOVE YOU GUYS! Thank you so much for sticking with me. There's more to come. I love how much you support me. Without you, I'd be nothing. You are amazing. :) Thank you.))  
> ((Notes: The following OCs appear as cameos with permission from their creators. :) Thanks, guys! 
> 
> Kate belongs to Browniefox 
> 
> The two boys and the girl in the infirmary belong to Flutter

**Chapter 8: Phantom Power**

_The Markihub_...

 

Mark hit the floor of the hub running.

His team followed close behind, weaving easily around the center stage and through clusters of people gathering in the main hall. Though they were battered, tired, and ready to drop, they pushed that aside to deal with later.

Sun’s left arm dangled limply at her side, exposing the faint, flickering heart on her sleeve for everyone to see.

No one expected a team to come barreling out of the vortex like an army of Terrorlings tailed their asses. Muttered shocked conversations breezed past them, morphing together in a cloud of plosives and syllables.

“Whoa, what the hell?”

“What’s going on?”

“Dudes, where’s the fire?”

“Who’s that?”

“That’s Blue’s team. They look like shit.”

“Glad I wasn’t part of that mission.”

“Who’s Mark carrying?”

“I’ve never seen her before.”

“Is that their target? She looks really hurt.”

“What’s up with her heart?”

He ignored them. Their voices drowned out by the memories of the last time he’d watched someone’s heartlight go out. _Not again, please not again_ …

He pivoted on the ball of his foot and hurried down the hall to the infirmary.

Four people from three different teams were currently recovering from various injuries. Two guys sat facing each other on the same bed talking low about their last mission. One of them with shaggy dark hair, sporting a bandage on his left cheek and wearing a white, black and green lettermans jacket talked about how he hoped the fight would leave a scar.

“Dude, keep dreaming,” his best friend, a guy with medium-length light brown hair snarked.

“We are, you dick.”

“You have a baby face only your mom can love.”

“I don't want a baby face. I want a scar.”

“See previous comment.”

A girl with two-toned jagged-cut red hair, purple glasses, and a black shirt curled up on a bed in the front right row vaguely listening to the guys while she waited to heal, and a brunette girl in a black shirt and gray flannel sat crosslegged on her bed in the middle row to the right.

Tiny Box Tim wrapped a bandage around the brunette's forearm and gave her a potion. “This is the sixth time you've been in here. You should really spend more time in the training room. I recommend buddying up with another mage to help you control your magic, Kate.”

Kate sighed. “I know. I'm Sorry. I'm trying, but I'm just not getting the hang of it.”

“You've only been here a few weeks. It takes time. You have a lot of power, so don't give up.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Tim.”

Jade dashed ahead to open the door and entered first. Mark charged in on his heels. “Tim!”

Tim’s attention swiveled from Kate to the group that burst into the waiting area. The first thing he noticed was how bedraggled and beat up they looked. The second was the limp body of an unknown girl draped over Mark’s arms. He turned back to Kate. “That healing spell will take a minute to work, so just rest ok?” He jumped down and bobbled up the center aisle.

Kate watched the frantic group curiously. Mark was with them. She smiled at first, though her mood changed to concern at the girl in his arms. The team's appearance mirrored people escaping from a war zone. What happened to them, and who was this girl? Their mission target? She covered her mouth slightly. That girl looked unconscious, and her heartlight barely existed. What hell did they go through to rescue her?

“Guys? What happened?” Tim looked upward.

“We got sent into the nightmare of a coma patient. That’s what happened,” Red blurted out. He was tired, irritated, and worried.

“She’s in a coma in your world?” Tim’s big blue eyes grew two sizes. “No wonder I had a bad feeling about that mission.” He motioned them forward. “Bring her over here, quickly.”

They followed the bouncing box to a middle bed on the left side of the room where Mark carefully laid her on the clean white sheets. The infirmary's occupants watched on in curiosity.

Tim hopped up next to her for a closer examination. He hovered his tiny round hand over her mouth to check her breathing. Even though this was the dream world, and the humans here didn’t have bodies, their spirits were so accustomed to the instinctual act of breathing that they would do it without thinking about it.

He peered intently at the pink heart, which now exuded so little illumination that it only cast Tim’s square face in its glow. “Oh dear. This is bad. This is very, very bad. I haven’t seen a case like this since—” he paused looking upward at Mark. They shared a moment of knowledge. He’d been on that fateful mission with him.

“Is there anything you can do?” Purple’s voice squeaked. She felt so useless since her magic was depleted and she couldn’t even attempt a small healing spell yet.

“Please tell me you can save her,” Peach said in desperation.

“Don’t worry, guys I’ve got this.” Tim rubbed his hands together and focused all of his healing magic on Sun.

A swirl of white energy built up around her body, washing over her in a water pattern, and expelling upward. Any physical injuries she had were now in the process of quick-heal, but the light on her sleeve continued to flicker like a dying neon sign.

Tim pursed the lines creating his lips into even thinner lines so his mouth looked like a single pen stroke. He tried again, gritting his teeth and pushing as much of the magic spell into her as he could.

The pink glow brightened slightly. Sun’s eyes cracked open momentarily, then closed. The light dimmed back to a level less than before. The flickering slowed to a painfully slow pulse so it resembled bradycardia.

Tim’s little body slumped, and he pressed his balled up hands to the mattress.

“You almost had it. Why’d you stop?” Jade asked.

He looked up at the 6 people around the bed. “I’m giving it all I have. I need to rest for a second.” He settled back onto his little box bottom. “You said she’s in a coma, but this feels like something sucked her dry. You guys maybe want to tell me what happened out there?”

Blue gave him the abridged version. When she reached the point in their story about the tower, she stopped and looked to Mark. He’d been alone with Sun and Shadow for a while, and she had no idea what happened before her team arrived. All she knew was that there was a fight, and he’d kicked ass and got his kicked in the process.

“I fought a Somni-Demonling – a powerful one.” He paused and took a breath. “I managed to weaken it enough for her to get rid of the Terrorling latched onto it.” He filled them in on the fight, though conveniently left out the part about pretending to be Dark in order to lure Shadow out of its host. They didn't need to know that part, or that during the entire act, he'd felt Dark squirming in disgust at being mimicked and mocked. It wanted out to do this itself, sending out the sense that it thought of its host as a pathetic charlatan. He'd told it to fuck off and moved forward with his plan.

Tiny Box Tim’s jaw hit the sheets. “She has a Somni? But…but that’s impossible. Only a Hero Class person can create a Somni, and the sense I get from her is not at that level.”

“Tell that to Shadow,” Red spat. “She’s a real bitch. It actually got strong enough to leave her.”

Blue held Sun’s right hand in hers for comfort, or support, or whatever she needed. “We guessed it was because she’s been stuck in the dream world for so long that it gained enough energy to form and it just kept growing stronger. It must have taken months.”

“Her dream was super real,” Purple said. “I had to keep reminding myself I was asleep.”

“Sun doesn’t remember the waking world at all,” Jade spoke up. “Not even her own name.”

“Sun?” Tim asked.

“Mark named her ‘Sun,” Blue explained. “He wanted to call her something stupid like ‘falafel’ or ‘Flobberdy’ later on, but we really couldn’t come up with anything better than Sun.”

“It was ‘Fuweep,’ and you’re right,” Mark came back.

Tim’s eyes went to each of them, then back to the girl on the bed. She wasn’t unconscious yet, but barely holding on, so he knew she could hear this conversation. “It’s hard enough on someone who’s Hero Class to take on a Somni-Demonling inside them, but for a regular class person, it might be too much. She won, but it took everything she had to win. In order for her to expel that Demonling attached to it, she must have held onto something incredibly valuable to her.”

“So, what are you waiting for?” Red pushed, “Do something else. Use a med pack, or a crystal, or a fucking bandaid. You’re the healer, Tim. Take responsibility for the people in your infirmary.”

“Red, shut up,” Blue snapped. “He’s trying. We talked about this.”

“Screw that! He quit after two tries! If her light goes out, she might actually die for real!”

“She will,” Mark stated softly. His deep voice silenced them. “But we’re not going to let that happen. Tim,” he faced down the tiny box, “there has to be something you can do; some tactic, or hidden item, or…anything you've picked up over the years. Anything at all.”

Tim’s eyes drooped. He couldn’t read his friend’s mind, but he knew exactly what was going through his head. “No matter what I do, it won’t be enough to replace the life energy she's lost.”

A heavy sorrow fell over the team.

“You mean…that’s it?” Peach whispered. “We saved her, but she’s still doomed?”

“It was that light bulb when she plugged it in,” Purple sniffled. “She didn’t want anyone who lived in her dream to suffer because of her. Her dream was around long enough that she thought someone real might actually live there. She did it for one person who might or might not exist.”

“Dammit!” Red plowed his fist into the wall. The surface cracked, then repaired itself. “It’s not fair! She’s so stupid!”

Blue kept shaking her head in disbelief. Small tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. “It can't end. Not like this. If that light bulb contains her life, then we'll go back and get it.”

“There's not enough time.” Tim didn't want to look any of them in the eye. “I'm sorry. I’m afraid this is beyond my abilities.”

“No. No.” Mark raked his hands through his hair. “No. No. NO!” He ripped off his glasses and launched them across the room. They shattered against the back wall into pixelated bits. A second later, they rematerialized on the mattress. The other four recovering heroes leaned back in shock. No one had ever heard his outburst in person like that. This was real, helpless frustration exploding in anger that filled the room from its sharp, dissonant wave. “That's bullshit! I will not lose her, too! I will _not_ accept, that! She’s here! We got her out of that clusterfuck to where it's safe! She defeated a Demonling! She repressed a powerful Somni she shouldn't even have! She’s trying to live! So, no! No, I won't accept that answer for one god damn fucking second! Because we can _not_ do _this_. We can _not_ give up on _her_ life!”

“Mark, chill,” Blue felt Sun’s hand lightly squeeze hers, “She can hear you. I can feel your hostility from here.”

“You guys don't get it! I—“ He gripped tufts of his dark hair in his fists and turned away. The urge to destroy something just because he needed a target overwhelmed him, because he couldn't physically punch the crap out of the thing taking Sun.

Tim’s eyes lit up. “Blue, you gave me an idea. It might not work, but—”

Everyone’s attention locked onto the small Somni.

Mark planted his hands on the mattress, “We’ll do it,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t care what it is. We did not go through that damned nightmare just for it to end here.”

“I’ve never tried anything like this before. It’s risky.”

“Every first attempt at something is risky,” Purple said, “but it we don’t try, we’ll be the worst kind of losers in the world.”

“Sun's our friend,” Blue chimed in. “We might not really know her, and she doesn't know us, but that's not going to stop us from doing everything we can to save her life. If Tim has an idea, I say we listen to him.”

“We promised her she wouldn’t be alone anymore,” Jade looked down at her still form. “I don’t break promises.” The others could tell their determination stemmed from their own life experiences.

“What do we have to do?” Peach asked. She’d grown close to the little box since her rescue mission and quickly befriended him. She felt like an older sister to him. “Just tell us, Tim. We trust you.”

Tim hopped across the bed. He picked up the glasses and held them for a moment, staring at the half black-wire frames cupping the lenses. The memory of looking through these glasses at the incident played on the backs of these lenses from Mark's point of view. He understood how much that person in those memories had mattered.

Tim offered them up. “I’m going to need your help for this one, pal. Are you ok?”

Mark exhaled, calming down. He put the glasses back on. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” At the understood request, he picked up the tiny box in both hands, making sure Tim faced outward. “What’s your plan?”

Tim wasn’t quite sure how to word this without it coming off as awkward, though he knew no matter how eloquently he put it, the ‘awkward’ aspect couldn’t be avoided. “I need you to be a battery.”

“A battery?” Blue blinked over at them across the bed.

“I don’t have enough energy on my own, but if I pull from Mark’s as an external source to make up the difference, I think I can replace what she’s lost.”

“I see what you’re saying,” Purple stood and moved next to them. “It’s like when I use a spell. I have to tap into the MP to power it, and I can feel that drain.”

Peach snapped her fingers. “I get it! If I had a battery to draw from, my spells would be much stronger. I'd be OP. It would be so meta.”

“You want to use me as phantom power?” Mark clarified. It made sense. Since Tim was his Somni, it had a direct link to him.

Tim nodded. “It’ll be rough. You’ve been through a lot on this mission already, which is why I’m worried.”

“I’ll record a light video when I wake up and sleep for the rest of the day to recover.” Mark’s grip tightened along with his resolve. “Do it. Just be careful.”

They both knew he was talking about steering clear of Dark’s energy. Tim rubbed his hands together and held them palms (or what would be palms on the little spherical appendages) down. “Here goes everything.” He focused on the healing spell once more.

It swirled upward around Sun’s body again, rushing over and through her like a visible wind.

Her heart line diminished to a barely visible, slim pink brush stroke.

“We're losing her,” Blue gripped her hand tightly. “Hold on, Sun. Please. We're here.”

Tim reached his breaking point, and began pulling life energy from that other connection. The spell intensified, becoming thicker, brighter, and more powerful.

Mark’s fingers hooked into the wooden sides of the little box. He’d felt the drain of energy from using magic before—though he rarely used it—and the rush of increased strength from buffs. This was slightly different, drawn directly out of him into Tim as a focal point and out into the spell like someone unraveling a thread from an old sweater. Only the 'sweater' was his spirit. This was life energy. To hell if he’d ever watch someone’s heartlight go out again. “Come on, Sun, come on.”

The pink heart’s glow increased, faded, then grew again in a slow, iambic pulse.

Mark's breath hitched in his throat, but he refused to give in. All he could see was the face of the one he'd failed to save, and his promise to never let that happen again so long as it was within his power.

Blue noticed her teammate faltering. “Guys,” she hurried over, and with the rest of her team, they all reached out to help.

Tim pulled from the new sources in tandem with his friend's. If he had sweat glands, little beads of perspiration would appear on the wood grain of his forehead.

The spell ignited into a pillar of white ribbons that moved around and through Sun.

She opened her eyes and inhaled deeply.

The world existed in a watercolor vignette. At first, it was nothing but pink light, then other colors swirled in.

She saw each of their faces locked in pure concentration, but more than that, she felt everything from them wash through her, and stay. The defeated Somni stayed quiet, weighted under the new torrent of life. _What is this? Is this...them? Who they are?_

Her eyes closed once more to the intensity of the transfer. Each of their faces appeared clearly in her minds eye:

Peach’s calm, caring, yet fierce nature.

Jade’s faith in their friends, resilience, and smart-ass humor.

Red’s fiery passion, tenacity, and unyielding loyalty to those he let in.

Purple’s gentleness, intelligence, and compassion.

Blue’s fearlessness, strong leadership, and radiant confidence.

And Mark’s stubborn drive, warm goofball heart, and honest sincerity.

All of it flooded through her, replacing more than what she’d lost. They were giving a part of themselves to keep her alive. This was a group act of pure selfless love not for a loser, or someone the world abandoned to this coma, but for 'Sun,' the real person. Her birth name didn’t matter. They were saving her because they cared about _her_ , not some persona. She felt it from all of them; 'we'll stay here. We promise. We believe in you.'

“ _I believe in you. I know you can do this”_

The emotions swelling through her entire body threatened to burst out of her chest within the cocoon of light. _I don't want to go. I want to stay with all of you. I don't know you, but I don't care. You're the most important thing in my life. I promise..._ _I’ll live. For everything you’ve done for me, I swear to god, I will live!_

A tear slipped from her left eye down past her ear to the scarf.

The heartlight stabilized, brightened, and let out a brilliant pink flash that sent a shockwave through the room. Even the people staring in awe on the beds felt it.

Everyone slumped, exhaling. Peach dropped to her knees while Purple leaned on the metal bars of the bed’s foot board. Red dropped so his head hit the mattress, and Jade flopped onto their back onto the bed behind them. Blue’s knees gave out and she fell to the edge of Sun's bed with her head resting on her arms.

Mark stayed strong, lock-jawed, and continuing as the last one. His muscles trembled from the exertion, but he didn't care. He was locked in a memory loop of a fatal failure forced to the front of his mind's eye by Dark, who took this opportunity of fatigue to torment its host.

“Mark,” Tim tapped his arm, “Stop. I understand, but you have to stop.”

The spell dissipated into the air, leaving the room normal once more.

His shoulders slouched and he collapsed to sit on the bed behind him. He could barely lift his head.

Tim hopped out of his hands—which had lost their gorilla grip—and jumped across to examine Sun. He cast a brief 'status check' spell. About 40% of the life energy within her belonged to Mark. The rest of it, about 20% each, came from the others. Hers was a speck of yellow within that chaotic mix. It began to gradually grow, accepting the colors around it.

“Did we do it?” Peach looked up. “Is she ok?”

“We better have,” Red mumbled. He leaned back against the other bed and draped his arms over his knees. “I wasn't expecting it to take that much. I guess she was...almost gone.”

Mark forced his head up. Sun's breathing normalized, and the pink heart light settled to a normal, solid radiance. She was stable. She'd survived.

Tim regarded the weary group with a smile. “She'll be fine. You did it. She just needs to rest.”

A collective sigh of relief left the group.

Jade simply lifted their arm to show the victory 'V', then let it flop behind Mark. “I need a vacation after this.”

Purple smiled and brushed strands of black and lavender hair from her face. “We found her and we saved her just like we promised. I knew we would.”

Blue pushed herself up to sit on the other side with Mark between her and Jade. “Good job, team. I'm proud of you.”

“Achievement; unlocked,” Jade sat up. “So, now what?”

“Now, we take a fucking break.” Red grunted as he got to his feet and shuffled over to a bed in the row ahead of them to faceplant into a pillow. If he woke up now, he'd be a mess stuck in his exhausted body. He did not need to explain to his family why he'd be biting everyones' heads off for no apparent reason. He'd recover here in the infirmary first.

Purple claimed the bed to Sun's right, and Peach and Jade collapsed onto the last two beds in Red's row.

Blue put in enough effort to set Tim on the floor and stumbled over to the nearest bed across the aisle where she could see her entire team passed out and recovering. She smiled. They were kind of amazing. Yeah, they were sometimes annoying with some in-fighting, and occasionally completely out of battle sync on bad days to the point where Mark and Red would shout in unison, 'He started it! I did not! You did!', and sometimes she wanted to wring their necks, but all in all, these nerds were the best team she could ask for.

Tim patted Mark's leg and jumped to the floor to head back to the desk for his own pick-me-up.

Mark remained with his elbows on his knees and his hands hooked together in front of his mouth, watching over Sun. He'd will himself to stay asleep for as long as he could to make sure she opened her eyes, and kept them open.

He knew he was bad at keeping promises, but this one he needed to keep, for her, for himself, and for everyone who believed in him.

 

\---------

TBC

 

 


	10. Mark's Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Mark watches over Sun, and the team recovers in the infirmary, Tiny Box Tim relates to Blue the story of a poignant moment in Mark’s past within the dream world, and we learn about Tim's awakening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A kind warning: This chapter contains a topic that may trigger some people. It’s not bloody, graphic, or gory, but it is psychological. Please keep this in mind when reading. Thank you.)
> 
> (A kind disclaimer: None of this is based in reality. Nothing like this happened 5 years ago. This is a fan created backstory. This is not canon, and not created by the devs of Hearts and Heroes. It is isolated to this story alone, and should not be considered canon in any way, shape, or form. …But headcanons are perfectly acceptable.)
> 
> I have this ability to disassociate myself from the Id so I can put 100% of my ability into the art, even if it tears me apart to do it. Later, when I reconnect, I think, “WTF was I thinking?”
> 
> I love Mark, and writing this was hard, but it's the story. Creators apologize to their characters all the time. I'm sorry, Character Mark.
> 
> Thank you. Please grab some tissues on the way in. I apologize in advance.

**Chapter 9: Mark's Past**

 

“Hey, Tim?” Blue caught the little box's attention.

Tim wobbled over and jumped up onto her bed. No matter how many times he had to leap to reach higher places, it looked to take little-to-no effort. “Yeah?”

The main reason she wanted a little bit of distance between herself and the team came out in her next question, “What did he mean when he said he wouldn't lose her, too? I've never heard Mark go off like that. What happened to him?”

Tim quieted his voice. “He won't like me telling you, but in light of recent events, and with you being his team leader, I think he'll forgive me.”

Blue listened closely, letting the little box Somni speak. “I have time. Hit me.”

“You know Mark was chosen just like you were, right? Well, he also started out as clueless as everyone else. At first, he was the only person here. The main hub wasn't more than a single room with a row of folding chairs and a small raised platform for the stage. He didn't know what the heart on his sleeve meant, and for the first few nights he avoided the portal, unsure and afraid of where it would lead. So, he explored the area and got a bearing on this place he dreamed about every night. He started to believe there was a reason he kept coming back here, why he knew he was dreaming but wouldn't wake up, and why it felt real. His only clue was the portal, which remained open as if patiently waiting for him to decide.

“Finally, he just stared it down, flipped it off, and jumped. He created the menu on his first mission to organize everything he found, because that kind of logging system made sense to him as a gamer. That first mission terrified him so much he woke up screaming. Eventually, he fell back to sleep and finished the dream. He rescued the mission target on his own, and they worked together from then on. Ben’s file and his appeared in the menu. Mark designated one room to hold all of the information gathered in these other dreams.”

“Google's library.”

“Yup. Except Google wasn't around yet, so the team leaders had to input everything themselves, or designate a team member to do it. Anyway, he soon realized the hub was a constant in the dream world; like an island in the eye of an ever-shifting storm –a safe room. Terrorlings couldn't get in on their own.”

Thanks to her experience with Mark's nightmare, Blue knew the wraiths could hitch rides in people. They just couldn't leave them while inside the hub.

“It didn't take long for others to start finding their way here, and pretty soon, he had his own team - Ben, Marly, Nathan, Anna, and himself. He was quickly voted in as the leader, even though most of his decisions were more 'Screw it. Let's try it and find out' rather than highly thought out calculated plans. No one really knew what they were doing. Everyone was flying by the seat of their pants, but as the missions added up, so did their experience. The five of them became best friends here the same way they had best friends in your world. Everything was going fine. They believed that they were truly making a difference, even if they couldn't remember it or each other when they woke up.”

He stared across the aisle at his friend's hunched back. Mark was exhausted, drained, and damaged from the battle, but he wouldn't let himself fall. “It happened six months into his role as team leader—about 5 years ago. Ben didn't show up. We got our mission briefing and went into a dream centered around a game called MYST.”

“Never heard of it.”

“It's an old school PC game consisting of puzzles and clues. You have to find books and pages to free a pair of brothers trapped in the books and blaming each other for their father's death, or something. Don't quote me on that. It's been a while.”

“Sounds cool. So, then what happened?”

“Their mission target was Ben.”

She frowned. “Oh.”

Tim continued. “They had to solve some of the puzzles before finally reaching him at the rocket ship up on the platform. But when they got there, the sky turned black, and the stairway to the ground crumbled, leaving them trapped with a horde of Terrorlings. The dream suddenly exploded into pixels around us like we were sucked into a black hole. It left us in this hollow void with the Terrorlings. The dream had disappeared and this was all that was left.”

“Like what was slowly happening because of the black squares in Sun's dream?”

He nodded. “That's when everyone realized the Terrorlings got to him a long time ago—long before he'd even met the four of us. He hid his own battle so well, no one even knew. His heartlight faded just like Sun's.”

Blue listened, completely absorbed in the tale.

“They tried everything to convince their friend that they were there to save him. They cried, they hugged him, they shouted at how much their team mate meant to them. They did everything they could to push that message beyond the Terrorlings' hold, but it failed. He was unresponsive.

“The team fought off waves of enemies, killing dozens of them. It was only when the Terrorlings suddenly backed away from our teammate to focus on us that we knew something was seriously wrong.

“There were too many for us to handle. They restrained the whole team. Mark was shoved to the ground and pinned down. He watched his friend collapse to his back like a rag doll. Ben turned to look at him and said something Mark would never forget; 'I'm sorry. I should have told you, but I couldn't. I made a mistake that I can't take back. Please forgive me.'

“It hit him just then the gravity of what he was facing. He'd reached out in desperation to his friend who was only a few feet away and kept demanding that he fight this. As team leader, he ordered him to stay. His cries mixed with the other three, all begging their friend to hold on, and that they were going to go home. He used the last of his energy on a healing spell to try to fix his teammate.”

Tim's gaze lowered to his clenched hands at the memory of the distorted scene from Mark's point of view. “Mark wasn't strong enough. He was forced to watch Ben’s heartlight go out with no way to save him. Everyone was kicked out of the dream back to consciousness. He woke up crying without knowing why.”

Blue felt a crushing sadness form a prickly ball in her chest. The image of Mark screaming for his friend was powerful enough to form a lump in her throat. Hot tears stung her brown eyes. “So Ben...died?” she whispered.

Tim nodded forlornly. “By his own hand in the waking world. We're not sure how, but he was alive long enough to reach us, almost like he planned it. The dream mission was his way of saying good-bye through one of his favorite childhood games. There really was no saving him from the start no matter what we did,” Tim exhaled. “Mark blamed himself. He still does.”

Dark's admonishment during Mark's nightmare suddenly held more depth than it already did, 'You know you can't really help people. You can't save anyone.'

She looked over at Mark watching over Sun. “That's so sad. No wonder he fought so hard to save her.” She wiped wetness away from her eyes in sympathy for her friend. She couldn't imagine losing any of her team. Just the thought of it terrified her. They were her family here in her other life, rescuing people from the Terrorlings together. She swallowed the lump to regain her voice. “What happened after that?”

“The team broke up. They got together on a few missions a couple of months after that, but it was never the same. Mark lost all faith in himself to lead a team. How could he take on that mantle if he couldn't even save one of his own? So he handed over leadership to Marly and decided to dedicate the majority of his time helping newbies and any of the teams that needed an extra hand.

“Marly left for 2 years. The pain of losing Ben, and seeing Mark and Nate as constant reminders of the past were too much for her. She came back late 2015. Nate never left. Anna moved to a different hub completely and we haven’t seen her since. 

“Mark made a promise to himself to never be that helpless again. That's why he created the Markihorn after the shop opened—so he could be quickly summoned to a dream to briefly help in a battle, then return here.”

“Did he know any of them in the waking world?” Part of her didn't want an answer.

“Mark pieced everything together over the years. At that time, no, he didn't know them outside of the dream world.”

A soft breath of relief escaped her. “Did he ever meet them?”

“He met the other three a year later at a convention. They were all in the same line of work, but he didn't have everything put together yet, so the connection he felt didn't make sense. They were all connected to each other because of their bond of friendship here. That link that forms from spirit to spirit is actually pretty strong between team members, some more-so than others, and carries over into your world. They got along, and formed new friendships. As time passed, he realized they didn't remember their lost teammate or the dream world while awake, but he did. He was the only one. He decided not to tell them about it while conscious. At least in the waking world, he wanted them to lead happy lives without this knowledge.”

“That sounds like something Mark would do. Damn, I had no idea,” she hushed. “It's terrible. He has to carry that around.” She glanced to Tiny Box Tim, who hopped down to the floor. “Hey, you said 'we,' 'us,' and 'I' a few times in weird places. Were you on the team?”

“Sort of. I was still part of him at that time.”

Blue didn't fully understand the formation of Somnis, but she knew Purple did. She'd have to read up on it, or ask for the Cliff Notes from her best friend. “You mean you were in his head? Like Dark?”

“Yup, but nothing like that big Jerk. Mark lived his life and I was fine with that. I remember the moment I realized some of my thoughts weren't mine and became what I am, but that didn't matter. I was happy where I was being a little character he tapped into to smile.”

“So, you wouldn't have left?”

“It wasn't a priority. I was fine. But the pain from his heart was so overwhelming after that mission, that I debated if it was a good idea to become my own self or not. I even managed to reach him in a deep dream once, but when I asked if I should become myself, all he did was grab me and say, 'We're saving the pancakes, Tim! It's a musical this time. The zombies are onto us. Get in the tub! You drive, I'll shoot!' I asked again, and he yelled 'Yes! Help me, Tim! Get us out of this parking garage! Keep driving!'”

Blue couldn't stop a snerk. “Dreams are weird.”

“Yeah. A lot of his dreams took place in a parking garage.”

“Again: weird.”

“But even in that, he was fighting to stay out of the darkness. He was suffering. Even the happy memories that I recalled to help him were met with a half-hearted smirk. He didn't know what was wrong. I tried to tell him he'd be ok, but every time, the other thoughts that contributed to Dark's formation were louder than me even though I was yelling. He kept thinking my voice was his. He wasn't wrong, of course, but at the same time, he didn't know I'd become self aware a while ago. He wasn't listening to me. So, I had to make a decision; stay and try to deal with this from within and risk being suppressed, or do something here and actually help him. It was the easiest decision I ever made. I pushed beyond my limits and became corporeal a few days later. He needed me.”

Tim also had to explain the concept of Somni, since he was the first one. Mark was super confused, thought he'd gone bonkers, and was a little frightened when a tiny talking wooden box suddenly said 'Hi, Mark!' from outside his own thoughts.

Tim offered her a small side smirk, letting her know everything was ok. “Don't worry about Mark, Blue. He's stronger than people think. You know that. He's one of the strongest people I know. Even though the past hurts, he found a way to heal and use it to help others. He's doing fine. He has his friends in the waking world, and he has you and your team, now. For him to accept joining another team after all this time is a huge step. I'm proud of him for that.”

She bit her lip, sniffling, and gave Tim a promise of her own. “We'll, he's not getting out of this team, now, so he has no fear of losing any of us. We'll always have each others backs no matter what.”

Tim's smile exuded genuine relief and happiness. “I trust you on that, and I'm holding you to it. Get some rest, Blue. You don't want to feel the repercussions of this particular mission when you wake up.”

“Yeah, no kidding. It's a good thing it's the weekend.” Blue watched him bobble over to help the dark haired girl in the gray flannel shirt. She laid back to stare at a lazily rotating ceiling fan and folded her hands over her chest. “We're not going anywhere, Mark. Not from you and not from Sun, Red, Peach, Purple, or Jade. And if you even think we are, I'll kick your butt here, and in the waking world. That's a promise. We'll find Teal together. All of us.”

 

 

\-----------

TBC

((quick note: It's been brought to my attention that there, indeed, was an individual in the real Mark's life who mirrors the fate of Ben's. I'd heard this person's name mentioned before, but did not know the details. I had to look it up. Had I known, I wouldn't have written this chapter. I feel compelled to take it down out of respect, for that is a pain I understand, and thus hold in the highest degree of solemnity --which is the reason why I dove into my own history to write this. If you think I should remove this chapter, then please let me know.Thank you. And to Mark, if I could hug you, I absa-fuckin-lutly would.))


	11. A Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old teammate makes an appearance. Sun wakes up and learns what Blue’s team did to save her life. She’s given a second chance, and Mark realizes that in saving her, he’s given himself a second chance.

_The Markihub – same night…_

The portal opened in a colorful swirl of energy just ahead of the back wall behind the stage. 2 teams of 4 stepped out onto the stone floor and heaved collective sighs of relief. One of the older guys with dark blue eyes and gifted with an athletic-yet-trim 6’ tall frame carried the rescued mission target on his back.

A short girl who looked to be about 16 years old with cropped curly brown hair and wearing a dirty white dress rested her head against his shoulder at the fringe of his shaggy chestnut colored hair. The leaves speckling her locks, and the dirt smudges on her clothes and skin suggested her nightmare took place in a forest setting.

The two teams thanked each other for the help, and went to restock their supplies and to take care of injuries. The leader of team 1 adjusted his square black framed glasses and carried the mission target to the infirmary.

A few passerby in the hallway give him a warm 'welcome back,' which he returned. They were also other oldies to dream rescues. The hub still looked like a barely-populated NPC village. He knew time zones were a thing, and if kept track of time right, the USA west coast should be starting to rouse.

People were gradually finding their way back from the hubs of other various personalities peoples’ hearts followed, but it still saddened him to see the place he'd called a second home speckled with small holes in the surfaces, and cracks spidering along the walls. He, himself, had only found his way back three weeks ago. He knew something was wrong when he couldn’t access the hub, so he did what many of the oldies did: helped coordinate people of this hub who’d been sent to others. It sucked that he couldn’t remember much when he woke up.

Whatever had hit Mark had done enough damage to leave this place in derelict condition. Even after a month and a half, it was still in the process of repairs.

And that meant so was Mark.

He had faith that the leader of his home hub would come back even stronger from whatever it was that took him down. He was sorry he hadn't been there to help, but at least he knew who was.

He laid the rescued girl on the bed next to Blue, who continued to stare at the ceiling. “S'up, Blue?”

“You're mom.”

“Sass game: strong.”

“Always.”

“Good.”

She didn’t want to leave until her team had awakened. So far, Purple and Jade were the only two to return to the waking world. She watched Red’s body disappear in a rush of blue light as he woke up. Good. Now all that remained were Peach and Mark.

She also wanted to make sure Sun would be ok. She understood Mark's need to save her more than ever, now. Had that been Teal, she'd have been in Mark's place, gladly giving whatever she could to save her life.

But now they were home, recovering, and everything would be ok.

Tim bobbled over and hopped up to treat the wounded girl.

The one who’d brought her in moved across the aisle to where Mark sat watching over a girl in a blue hoodie and red scarf.

He tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey, nerd.”

Mark finally moved for the first time since the energy transfer ended –not because he was upset, or moody, but because he was drained, dead-exhausted, and really didn’t have the strength to do more than breathe. “Hey.”

“Whoa. You look like shit.”

“Nice to see you, too, Nate.” Mark stretched.

“What used you as a pinata? I haven't seen you this beat up from a mission in forever.”

“It was...involved. You’re up in Vancouver for that thing right now, right? Shouldn’t you be awake?”

Nathan shrugged. “Eh. I woke up once already to pee and fell back asleep to finish the mission. We just got back.”

“How’d it go?”

“We got her,” he glanced across the aisle. “Rescued her from a survival game called 'The Forest'. We found our mission target hiding in a tree house from Terrorlings who looked like cannibals.” The bed springs creaked as he sat next to his friend. “Her name is Liz. She’s just a kid, but she’s a fighter. I think she’ll be able to do some good here once she finds her bearings. I already know who should be here when she recovers to show her around. Marly could use someone else on her team. She has 7, but 8 is a good number.”

Mark nodded and turned lazily back to watching Sun. “Good. Yeah. Marly. Good call. She's a solid leader.”

“What, no witty retort?” When he received no reply, his eyes moved from the girl to him and back, and the tenor of his voice turned more sympathetic. “Was it really that bad?”

Mark exhaled and worried his face. “Yeah. She, uh...” He didn't want to bring up their lost teammate's name, or invoke that memory. Sun's nightmare came too close to being a repeat experience.

Nate’s chest clenched from a shot of dread when he noticed his friend’s dim hero mark. “Dude, your heartlight…” he swiveled quickly toward the other row of beds across the aisle. “Tim!” He called over to the little box.

“Calm your tits, Mom. Tim already got to me. I’m recovering before I leave.”

His friend settled down. “Yeah, it’s just…call me paranoid, ok? What the hell happened to you, anyway? You look…no joke, man, you look terrible.”

“It’s a long story,” Mark muttered.

“You're being avoid-y. I don't like it when you do that.”

“I just don't want to talk about it right now, k?”

“Fair enough.” He pursed his lips. Something had transpired between him and this girl—perhaps his mission target—that brought up painful reminders that only existed here in the dream world. He was thankful most memories of this world left him and the others alone while awake. He cleared his throat and tried to lighten the mood. “She’s kind of cute. I bet she has a cute laugh. I wonder if she’s single…” he rubbed his chin.

A light snort left Mark. That was just like this friend, the womanizing ladies man. He wanted to tell him that this girl carried a Somni that could bust his balls, but he wasn’t in the mood to explain anything now, even if it was to an old teammate. “Just go wake up, ya bastard.” He lost the mirth. “I’ll explain everything later.”

He watched as a girl in a peach colored hijab on a bed in the row ahead of them returned to the waking world. “Was your entire team in here?”

Mark nodded.

“Damn. Maybe you guys should take tonight off.”

He shook his head. “I know my team.”

“Yeah. It sounds like you do,” Nathan smirked and squeezed his friend’s shoulder in support and reassurance. “Take care of yourself, pal.”

His friend left the infirmary and disappeared back to the waking world.

Mark exhaled. Once more, he was alone –save for Blue, whom he knew would stay until he disappeared back to physicality. He’d do the same; in fact he was doing just that. Call it a curse of the Team Leader. As hub leader, he never lost that habit.

He remained as a guard over Sun for the next ten minutes. She would crack open her eyes occasionally, then close them. Tim had explained that her spirit was adjusting to the massive amount of life energy within her. It had to settle down, but he didn’t know how long it would take since that particular method of saving someone had never been applied before.

Blue's, Red's, Purple's, Peach's, Jade's, and his life energy were all a part of her, now.

A soft repetitive sound tickled his ears and his vision began to fade. He recognized it instantly as the one thing that could override his willpower: the ringtone set as his alarm to go off at 8am.

The sound grew louder. He saw Sun’s eyes open again and tilt toward him just as his world faded out. “I’ll come back,” he whispered.

And then he woke up.

Their mission lasted the entire night.

 

* * * *

 

_The Infirmary – around 10pm PST the next night…_

 

The din of the infirmary reached her ears. She heard footsteps as the rare person walked by along with the tell-tale _thump thump thump_ of Tiny Box Tim's hopping motion in a doppler effect.

She inhaled the sweet, faint aroma of flowers. It smelled like lavender. That was always a scent that soothed her. She didn't know if it was real or sense memory tricking her. Either way, she enjoyed it. It smelled so nice.

She remembered being taken from the tower through a portal that looked like someone swirled colored dye with oil in water, and then the rush of people moving swiftly around her as she was carried through a large room into one with multiple beds. Everything was a blur of faces, emotions, and then darkness.

Hear heart slowed. The pink light at her sleeve faded away. For a very brief moment, she heard a high-pitched mechanical beep like from medical monitoring equipment, followed by an unfamiliar woman's voice so quiet, she could have imagined it; 'We're losing her. Call the doctor!'

However, something stronger replaced it.

It pulled her out of the void back to her body, and she felt the pink energy pulse through her, igniting the heartlight. It pulled her into it and surrounded her.

The stranger's distant voice returned; 'She's stabilizing? How?' another spoke; 'I don't know, but thank god.'

It faded out of her hearing just as quickly as it came.

Five new colors joined it. The new torrent of energy refused to let her go. It contained familiar voices, images, and the presence of people she knew that formed phantoms within the void; it was the team that saved her.

She'd heard them, and made a promise to them and to herself to live.

All six colors of energy braided through her so tightly, it became hers. The first and last of it, a steady stream of pink iridescence, tied it all together.

Shadow retreated and stayed quiet, locked away.

After running forever, she could finally rest.

She existed within that cocoon where time had no meaning, and dreamed within her dream. Images of places that felt familiar flashed through her mind long enough for her to process what they were, but not enough to be identified as specific locations: the ocean, the setting sun, a Ferris wheel, a city. The team was with her. They were there, all of them, and she was happy.

The sounds of shifting fabric nearby urged her to pay attention. The greater fraction of her made of the pink energy flashed for no longer than an eye blink, and for some reason, she knew she didn't have to worry about who'd just arrived. In fact, she was curious to see whom that energy belonged to. Her perception of those colors dissipated and she was left with the darkness of the backs of her eyelids.

Sun opened her eyes and blinked to bring a languidly revolving ceiling fan into focus. She sat up slowly. There were beds in a row ahead of her, and a 'Keep Calm' kitty poster on the wall. A few cracks adorned the smooth surfaces, like this room had gone through an earthquake, and someone was in the process of filling all the breaks with plaster. An empty bed next to the wall set to her right, and to her left sat the most familiar person in her dream world life, and the source of that pink energy.

She blinked. “Mark?” Her voice—like herself—felt raw.

Mark sat on the bed with his hands clasped between his knees and smiled. “Welcome back, Sun.”

She looked around. “Where am I?”

“Home. You're in the infirmary of the Markihub.”

She regarded him curiously, “What’s a Markihub?”

“It's,” he searched for the right words, “Like a safe zone. It's our HQ.”

“Oh,” she rubbed a warm point just below her clavicle, but paused and took the end of the red scarf in hand. “I guess everything was real after all.”

He nodded. “Yup. Extremely. How are you feeling?”

She ran a quick mental check of her senses. “A little tired, numb, kinda cold, and eviscerated. And confused.”

“That sounds about right.” He knew what she was suffering through right now without any further explanation. “It'll hurt for a while. You basically ripped open a wound and dumped rubbing alcohol on it. You're going to feel like you have no skin for a few days.”

She shuddered. “Because of Shadow?”

He nodded. “You're going to feel it clawing at your psyche. It damaged you pretty good, but you've got it under control. Believe it or not, you won. It might not feel like it, but you did. You'll be ok, though. You'll figure out which voice is yours and which is hers.”

“How?”

“I'll help you.”

Her head bobbled lightly in acceptance. “How long have you been here?”

“I just got back. It's technically night, at least where I am.” He scratched at his hair. “You remember what I told you, right? About you being in a coma?”

She took a deep breath. She felt alive, like this was her body, and it wasn't lying in a hospital somewhere on life support. “Yeah, I remember. I remember everything from the past year, but still nothing before it.”

“Give it time.”

Sun recalled his face whenever she'd open her eyes after the others had gone. He'd stayed within her line of sight. He'd said he'd come back, so that must have been when he woke up. She'd believed him.

“Ya know what was weird? My wrist hurt the entire day. I had to wear that damn brace the whole time.”

“From when Shadow grabbed you?”

“Yup.”

Her gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. “I'm sorry I couldn't stop her. I tried, but I wasn't strong enough. She had full control and all I could do was watch as she forced me to hurt you and I hated it. I felt so helpless and terrified. I didn’t want to hurt any of you guys. I kept screaming at her to stop, but...”

“That's not your fault. Believe me, I know how hard it is to fight that thing.”

She looked back at him, into his sincere expression, and knew he told the truth. She now had someone on the sidelines that she could look to, see him nod, and know he understood. He was perhaps the only one who did.

“I mean,” he continued, “this isn't the first time I've felt the after effects of a difficult mission, but it was up there in ‘pain-in-the-ass’ annoyance.”

She tried to stand up, but lost her balance and braced herself against the bed. The new energy left her stronger than before, but it wasn't native to her, so she had to compensate. She felt light headed.

“Easy. You should take it slow for a while.”

Her legs felt heavy, but she forced them to work anyway. The more steps she took, the simpler control became. To her relief, Shadow stayed locked behind her wall. Sun's body was hers again without interference.

She moved up the aisle to the middle of the waiting area.

Mark walked casually behind her, hands in his pockets.

A couple of people entered the infirmary, making her step aside to give them room. One of them limped as their friend helped them sit on the bed Mark just vacated.

A high-pitched, small voice caught her attention from the floor at her feet. “Hi, Sun!”

Sun looked down at her sneakers to a small wooden box with a smiling face, big blue eyes, and skinny arms sticking out from the sides. It waved at her. She stepped back almost into Mark. “Y-you're a tiny box.”

“Yup, I am,” Tim's grin remained.

“And you're talking,” She blinked.

“Sometimes you can't get him to shut up,” Mark joked.

“Hey,” Tim looked up at his friend, “You have no room to talk.”

He held up one hand. “I...pfffft....whatever, blah blah, Tim, blah blah.”

She crouched down on one knee to get a better look at the little animated guy. “I haven't seen anything like you before.”

Mark shifted to his other foot. “You don't know who he is?”

Sun shook her head. “No idea.”

“And you don’t know who I am at all?”

She shook her head, ashamed at the feeling that she should implied by his question. “Sorry.”

“Nah, nothing to be sorry for. I'm just a guy.” He felt a swell of relief. Sun had accepted him for who he was not based on any previous knowledge of his public life. He realized the only 'Mark' that she knew was the one she met here. He wondered if that would change if her memory came back. It surprised him that a small part of him didn't want it to.

That eased her concern. “So, where’d you find him? Out there somewhere?”

“Oh, I came from Mark,” Tim stated calmly. “I'm a Somni. My job is to heal the heroes who come back from missions, like you guys.”

Sun's face snapped to instant fear and she fell backward. “A Somni?!” She scooted back on her hands until she hit the wall, and held up her right forearm in defense, suddenly wary of this adorable box boy.

Tim pouted and reached out. “No, I’m not like that.”

Mark knelt down to scoop up the little box in his hands. “You don't have to worry about Tim. He's one of three Somni here, but he's not like Shadow, or—“

“Or that giant jerk, Dark,” Tim growled.

“…Or that giant jerk, Dark,” Mark accepted that answer. Why not? Seemed accurate enough.

“He knows about Shadow?” Her hand covered her mouth in embarrassment. “Oh no.” She stood and flopped down in the nearest seats.

He sat next to her. “Listen. If there's anyone in this place you can trust, it's Tim. Your secret's safe with him.”

“That's right,” Tim saluted and smiled.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” he assured her.

“Well, I trust you, so,” Sun reached out and flinched a little when Tim took hold of her hand. “I guess he is pretty cute.”

The little box blushed, “Ah, jeeze, Sun. Thanks.” He hopped back to the floor. “I wouldn't recommend you leave the hub yet. It took a lot to bring you back. Healing from that and from a Demonling possession won't happen over night.”

“What do you mean by that?” She asked.

Mark found his shoes to be more interesting at that moment. “He means you were kind of...almost damned close to...well...you were pretty much dead.” He noticed her surprise and continued before she could blurt anything out. He kept his voice low. “We had to pull some drastic measures to save you, and it worked, and here you are. So...Yay.”

“What he's trying to say is that they gave you their life energy. Yours was pretty much gone. They saved your life by replacing it with theirs,” Tim clarified.

“We didn't even know if it would work, but we're all glad it did.”

Her eyes widened. So, she hadn't imagined it. What she'd felt truly was them. “How would you even do that?” she cleared her throat. “How much of me was left?”

Tim answered softly. “From what I could tell, about 5%. Maybe less. What's left of you is no bigger than a grain of sand.”

Shock at her almost-reality zapped through her. “5%?” she whispered. “I was dead?... And everything else isn't me. It's...”

Tim gave her a 'no' motion. “Oh no, it's yours now. Captain Overkill, here, and the others gave you a ton. It's surrounding yours like a bubble. This hasn't been done before, so whatever happens from now on that you don't understand, you can talk to me about it. I'm here for you, Sun.”

Mark rubbed at his eyebrow, not able to look her in the eye. She was quiet, and when he did turn to lock eyes with her, he saw disbelief, and confusion, but mostly gratefulness. She recognized what they had given her. She was still stuck in a coma, but alive because of them.

Oddly enough, he felt that connection, as well as the sense of the Somni within her. Now that Shadow and Dark has interacted...ish...that part of him could tell it was there the same way Shadow detected Dark at the Glen when they'd found her.

He cleared his throat. “That was a bitch to do, let me tell ya. Don't want to do that again.”

“A-are you ok from that?” She still couldn't believe it. “life energy... It sounds super serious.”

Tim interrupted the awkward moment. “I checked Mark when he got here. He's not at full power yet, but he's fine—up to about 65%.

“69. Don't sugar coat it for her.”

“The others should be ok, too. It'll probably take a couple of days for everyone to get back up to 100, so don't worry about them.”

He stretched. “Felt like 30 when I woke up.”

Tim poked him in the shin. “I had to tell you to stop.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.”

Sun leaned forward, trying to come to terms with the fact that only 5% of her own life energy remained.

“Well, I gotta patch up some heroes, so I'll see you later,” Tim waved. “Good luck out there!”

She watched him bobble down the aisle to help with the two who'd walked in moments ago.

Mark stood. “I need to get going, too. The team should be here soon and we need to prep for the next mission.”

She looked up, worried. “You're going back out there already? Those things are out there, and Tim said—”

“Hey, no life draining procedure ever stopped me from doing something that's potentially stupid.”

His humor reached her and she smiled slightly. “That made no sense. Are you sure you're ok?”

“This is nothing kicking some Terrorling ass won't fix.” He shrugged. “If you're up to it, you should explore the hub,” he offered. “But I’d steer clear of the Weaponry for a while, if I were you.”

“Why? What's wrong with the Weaponry?”

“It's not so much what’s wrong with the place as it is the guy,” he dragged the last syllable out to emphasize the instability of Wilford. “Look, just trust me, ok? If you see a guy with a pink mustache, do not approach. In fact, come back to the infirmary. He doesn't like it in here.”

“Is he dangerous?”

“Eh,” he pitched up his voice and it cracked, “To a degree, but he won't hurt anybody here. I made sure of that.”

“Oh-kay...” That wasn't very reassuring. She got to her feet. “Hey, when you see your team, please tell them I said thank you.”

“Nope,” he said. “They'll want to see you before we head out. You can tell them yourself.”

That sounded reasonable, and more preferable. She wanted to see them again, too.

He opened the door.

“Mark?”

He paused in the threshold to look back.

“I know who you are.”

He paused with that knot of concern in his chest. Shadow has said his voice was the last one she heard before she fell into her coma. Maybe her memory had started to return. The possibility of her perception of him changing due to his profession gave him a twinge of loss.

“You’re the one who called me back. When Shadow had full control, I heard you. I held onto that. So, …you’re…you're a…friend.” This man was no longer just a random stranger she came across in this world. She felt comfortable around him. He was important to her. After everything he'd gone through to save her, she thought he should at least know that much.

For the first time since they'd found her in the dream world, he saw her smile genuinely and completely. It brightened her spirit, and poured into the depths of her words that only a feeling could convey. He picked up on all of it. A thousand pages would never be enough.

“Thank you.”

He returned it in kind. “You're welcome.”

Sun watched him leave and exhaled.

She walked up to stand in front of the ‘Keep Calm’ kitty poster. “Now what?” she whispered to the adorable kitten in its scuba suit and clear round helmet. It gave a thousand-mile happy stare as an answer.

A few veins of cracks etched into the walls from beneath the poster. She'd noticed there were random areas like this all over the room. A couple of larger ones, some medium breaks, but mostly hairline fractures in clusters, or alone in jagged lightning strike lines. She touched the edge of a crack near the poster, and jerked her hand back when it suddenly sutured itself together. The damage healed completely. “Whoa.” She was pretty sure she’d never witnessed a building self-repair.

She felt like she was suddenly inside a massive creature that went through a gruesome battle and was slowly regenerating from getting its ass kicked. Was this another aspect of the dream world?

Shadow’s whispers—her negativity—tried to surface, but she shut her eyes against it and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering from an internal cold. She had 7 reasons to fight it, now, even if she didn’t really know what she was doing yet.

“Sun!” An exuberant squeal of delight resounded through the room.

Sun turned around just as Purple dashed down the center aisle and glomped her in a tight hug. The force of the hug-attack made her stumble back, but neither of them fell. “Wuh.”

“You’re awake and you’re ok!” Purple’s cheek squished against the scarf.

“Purple?” She recognized her, even though they hadn’t had a conversation before. Whether that familiarity was due to the mix of energy gradually becoming hers or not, she accepted it. This little girl with two-toned colored hair was part of the team that saved her. She'd bravely fought the horde of Terrorlings that Shadow summoned to take down the group. Though small, she was definitely not powerless. She was precious. Sun hugged her back. “Purple.”

“We were so scared. You fought so hard, and we went through all that, and we were scared to lose you, and... I’m so happy you’re ok!” A tear of elation slipped down her cheek.

“I’m up, aren’t I?” She held on tightly. “It’s because of you. Thank you, Purple.”

Purple’s grin reached ear to ear and she smooshed her face harder into the fabric. She wasn't useless, and now she knew she had saved a life, and that life mattered to her.

“Sheesh, Purple, don’t put her back in the hospital bed,” a taller boy in a beanie and warm hued flannel strolled over with his hands lazily in his jeans pockets. “As soon as she heard you were up, she took off.”

“Red,” Sun didn’t want to take her eyes off of him. He was beautiful. He came across as coarse and brash, but what he’d given her was strength and loyalty.

“Sorry,” the white mage apologized, but didn’t let go.

Four others followed behind their companion.

“Sun, you’re all right!” Peach jogged up and hugged her from the other side, since Purple refused to give up her spot in the middle. “We were so worried. I couldn’t concentrate at all today.”

“Peach,” she smiled.

“It’s about time you woke up!” Jade bounced down the aisle and gave Purple a run for her money when it came to hugs. “What were you going for, a world record?”

“Maybe, Jade.”

“Guys, come on, she just woke up,” Blue chuckled as she and Mark tailed the group. Though she couldn’t help herself and joined in on the group hug. “Let her breathe.”

“Says the team leader adding to the problem,” Red smirked. He felt the same joy at seeing her up and around, since the 6 of them had given her a part of themselves to bring her back. “Ah what the hell.” He wrapped his arms around her from Peach’s side. It was rare that he’d choose to be this open about his feelings, but he and his team had gone through enough together that they were some of the few people he was ok with. Besides, it’s not every day you give up part of your life energy to save someone else.

“Guys…” Sun sniffled as the immense amount of caring from those surrounding her poured out as tears. She knew all of their names. She didn't know how, but that mystery didn't matter. Shadow’s whispers faded away. Even if she wanted to drop to her knees, she couldn’t. These people were holding her up.

Mark folded his arms and just watched. He remembered this from Sun’s position, and knew how therapeutic that moment between him and his team had been. It stayed with him as part of the lock that kept Dark behind his wall.

“Hey, Mark, get in here. You’re the only one missing,” Blue held out her hand.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, keeping his voice light. “We had our moment.”

Sun looked over Purple’s head and gave an understanding nod. It was fine if he didn’t. She was ok with that. She’d said what she needed to earlier anyway.

Purple shuffled slightly sideways and held out her hand. Jade, Peach, and Red did the same. They all knew their teammate was still healing.

“You’re the main reason we even got her out of there,” Purple’s smile came out in her soft voice. “Blue put it together that you’d be the only one who could get through to her and you did. And Tim wouldn’t have been able to max out his healing spell without you. I don’t think any other team here could have rescued her. We fought our hardest, but if it wasn’t for you, Sun wouldn’t be here.“

“Yeah, being crushed by a bunch of nerds,” Jade added with a grin.

“The best nerds,” Peach wrapped her other arm around Red.

He knew they were right. He was the only one in this hub to experience possession of a Somni-Demonling, but he also knew if he’d gone into Sun’s dream alone, despite his story, skill, or history, he wouldn’t have been able to rescue her. He may even have fallen into darkness again trying.

Blue's team was a bunch of sensitive, ass-kicking memers—himself included—and dick jokes were the norm. Then again, he had a collection of tear-filled vlogs the world could view at any time, so he really didn’t have room to talk—like Tim said.

Sun was surprised when Purple relinquished her precious spot to let him in, but more surprised when he accepted it. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Purple squeezed back in between him and Blue and the group filled in the circle.

He was only a few inches taller than her. This was part of the dream world. They were spirits. But they were so warm. Tears of joy spilled from Sun's eyes. If only to these 6 people, she held value.

The pink glow from her hero mark remained steady—a constant reminder that a part of this team lived within her. She may fall down as she healed, but she wasn’t alone anymore. She could pull from their strength to continue, and maybe even wake up from her coma. She would do the best she could to never betray that gift.

They let her go one by one, renewed and ready to go save someone from the Terrorlings.

“Come on, guys, we’re burning nightlight,” Jade bounced on the balls of their feet. Though they weren’t back up to 100% yet, they were psyched.

“I’m not sure that’s the right expression,” Purple giggled, “But I guess it fits, since it’s currently night time.”

“I’m going full throttle on this one,” Peach clenched her fists, ready for action. “We’ll rescue our mission target in record time.”

“And then we’ll be dragging your exhausted ass back,” Red stated.

“Red has a point. Let’s take it easy on the next couple, ok, guys?” Blue said.

The team accepted their leader’s ruling. They bid Sun farewell, said they’d be back soon, and talked to each other as they headed to the door.

…All except Mark.

She glanced back.

He remained hugging Sun tightly. He didn’t speak, and neither did she. It was an intimate, wordless conversation no one else would know the details to.

Blue caught the glint of a tear slipping down from behind his glasses. At first she was concerned that he was slipping backward—as had happened before—, but then she noticed his expression. It wasn't sadness, regret, or guilt. It was acceptance, and the evaporation of a very old weight.

Sun's expression changed to kind support and her arms tightened around his waist. Tears slid down her cheeks as she rested her head on his shoulder. Whatever she picked up, it had turned from 'I'm glad you're alive' from his end, and 'thank you,' from hers, to 'I understand. You'll be ok' from her, and 'I'm sorry. Forgive me' from him.

Her new knowledge of his past let her understand a fraction of that conversation.

He wasn’t embracing only Sun.

He was also embracing the one he couldn’t save.

Blue felt herself smile. Saving Sun had let him fully forgive himself and accept that the death of his teammate wasn't his fault. ‘You kept your promise,’ she told him in her heart, ‘Ben would be proud.’

“Hey, you comin', Blue?” Red caught her attention.

“Yeah,”

“What about him?”

Blue rested her hand on his upper arm. “He'll catch up. We're not leaving without him. Come on, let's stock up on ultra balls.” Hopefully soon, one of their missions would lead to Teal, and a second chance. She and Red left their two friends to take their time.

He had found closure in the most circuitous, introspective, unique way possible.

After 5 years, Mark could finally let go of the guilt and truly say good-bye.

 

 ---------------

TBC


	12. Learning to Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sun's curiosity to explore the hub takes over. Mark demands an answer from Wilford about the silver dagger that damaged Shadow. He answer's Sun's question, but ends up dropping his guard and talking to her about Dark. He finds he can trust her. They discover something weird about their respective menu windows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lostin belongs to SiloZen. Thanks for letting me include this character. Find them at silozen dot tumblr do com.

_Two nights later..._

 

People were starting to talk about the Girl Who Can't Wake Up.

Sun walked slowly down the middle of the hallway away from the infirmary. Her left hand clutched her right bicep in a meager shield against the unknowns of this strange place. She'd spent the past two days resting up as Tiny Box Tim suggested, but her curiosity to learn more about her surroundings became too strong to ignore.  
She needed to at least explore the hub that apparently became her new home.

Home...a place to belong where she felt safe. If she had one in the waking world, she didn't remember it. However, in the dream world, this was her first.

That icy, raw feeling of defeating Shadow lingered. She knew it would take a while to recover back to 'normal' –whatever that was—but she wished there was a way to speed up the process. For now, she felt fragile, like her skin would tear if anyone but the team touched her.

Shadow's influence did its best to resurface, trying to drag her down into a sense of failure, that she didn't help anyone, and that her life was meaningless. It knew its host was wounded and still in pain.

Sun heard the voice, but made sure the lock suppressing that storm remained secured—tied by those multicolored threads. Yes, she was hurt, but she was healing.

She parted through the sea of casual conversations. People walked with their friends and team members. They were so at ease here, laughing about inside jokes, telling others about cool or frightening or funny encounters on their missions, or about what happened in their waking lives.

Mark assured her that the Terrorlings couldn't get in here, and although she believed him, accepting it immediately wouldn't be so simple. Nothing about the Markihub gave her a bad feeling—in fact, it felt like home. She wasn't afraid, but the past year running through this world had taught her to be cautious.

“You on second or third shift today?” a girl with green and brown hair poked her companion in the arm as they walked by Sun.

“Third shift. I had to pull an all-nighter for exams,” her friend slumped, and her blond hair slipped over her shoulder form her ponytail. “I know I'm asleep right now, but I'm still exhausted.”

“Oh yeah. You're trying to become a head shrink,” the first girl smirked.

“Therapist,” her friend corrected, not amused.

“Fancy name for a Shrink.”

She sighed. There was no getting past that stubborn sense. “I figured if I could help people here, then maybe I can help them out there.”

The other's brown eyes widened. “Wait, you remember what happens here?”

She shook her head. “No, but I have this feeling every time I wake up. That's why I decided on psychology as a major. It just feels like the right path.”

“I wish I could remember you out there. You're my best friend,” she wrapped her arm around the other's waist in a hug that her friend sort of bobbled into, fully loving the contact. “I'd find you and offer to help you study. You'll be a good head shrink.”

“Therapist. And you'd be my first patient.”

They continued on into the main hall.

Sun stopped at the threshold. _They don't remember anything that happens here?_ She thought, looking to all the groups of people in the room. _None of their adventures, or the relationships they create here stay with them when they wake up?_ A knot of sadness built in her chest. So many of the people here—from all different walks of life—displayed strong connections with their friends. For them to go on with their waking lives without knowing those they care about exist must be horrible.

Even as she thought this, she also noticed they didn't seem to mind it.

But she would.

Sure, she'd been here for a year, and there were a lot of things she'd rather forget, but if she woke up, would she forget everything that happened? ...Or worse...everyone?

A new pain stabbed through her heart and it forced her to clutch at her chest. The price for awakening from her coma might be too high to pay.

She took a deep breath to push those thoughts back. She wasn't nearly strong enough to wake up yet. Besides, Peach had mentioned that she couldn't concentrate at all the whole day because she was worried about her, which meant at least Blue's team could remember their dream lives. That little tiny spark of knowledge gave Sun hope. Perhaps there was a way to make sure she would never forget them. What she knew for sure, was that she would not leave this world without that key.

A small crowd gathered in the main room. Curious, Sun blended in and stood at the back. There were about thirty people here, all with pink hearts on their sleeves. Many of them looked ready to take on the next challenge, while others seemed scared. Each hesitant person she noticed had someone who gave them a word, or hug, or nudge of encouragement. They looked as unsure as she felt. She wondered if they were new here, too, and if those people were the team members that rescued them.

The vortex 'wooshed' to life at the front of the room.

She watched in shock as a team of eight people paired up and jumped through without a second thought. The rift closed behind them.

She blinked. What the hell was that?

A second later, it reappeared, and a team of five stepped up. Soon, they, too disappeared into the portal.

A guy in his mid 20's was next in line. He was one of the people who'd looked unsure. A girl with two-toned green and brown hair about her age held out her fist for a friendly fist-bump and gave a few words of encouragement that Sun couldn't hear before the two of them jumped into the portal. It swallowed them up and left the wall bare.

Again, it reappeared, and another group of four launched themselves through with a loud 'Leroy Jenkins!' battle cry. They looked to be high schoolers.

Sun moved across the room leaving the others alone. At least a hundred people could fit in this hall. There were about sixty empty chairs set up on a red carpet facing the stage. She wondered why there were so few people here, and if there had ever been more.

She entered the hallway to her right and paused in front of a door with a sign on the wall that read 'Weaponry.'

She bit her lip in hesitation. Mark had told her not to go in here yet. Curiosity seemed to have been her downfall in the waking world, because it reared its head here. Cautious, she pushed open the door.

A man in a pale yellow shirt and khakis held up by faded red suspenders lounged against the employee side of a wooden counter polishing a dagger as long as her forearm. However, the trait that stood out the most was his bubblegum pink bushy mustache.

He faced away from her, giving his attention to a group of four holding various weapons and adornments. “Why don't you kids try that new armor on for size. Let me know where it needs adjusting, and if the weapons need testing,” he said with a lilt in his voice, almost making him sound inebriated.

The quad of people slipped on their armor. Another guy who stood apart from the group swiped his finger down the air, calling up his menu window. He added his armor and his repaired weapon to his inventory and mumbled a thanks.

She had to move to the side as the teenager trudged by her with a scowl on his face. He was alone, and wounded. She was about to ask if he needed help, but the look in his eyes told her to back off. “Rude.”

“Nevermind him,” Wilford scanned his reflection in the blade's surface. He knew someone else had entered without looking. Normally, he would say 'lad,' or 'lassie,' but the person's energy was so different, he couldn't initially tell who they were. And a good fraction of it felt familiar. Mark must have entered with them. “That's Lostin. He likes to think of himself as a Lone Wolf. One of these days, he'll understand the importance of being on a team. A team looks after you. They're your family. I wanted to prove my point by stabbing him, but he left before I could offer.”

He froze when he caught her mirror image. She was alone. Mark wasn't anywhere in the shop. Something about her switched his 'caution' sense on. He turned slowly, lowering the blade. “I haven't seen you around here before. You must be new. Welcome to the Weaponry.”

This place didn't seem so bad, nor did the man behind the counter. She wondered why Mark warned her about him. “Thanks. I'm just looking around.”

“Oh, a window shopper. Have you chosen a class yet?”

“Class?”

“There are three classes you can choose from at the Tier 1 stage; Defender, Mage, or Warrior. The fourth is a Hero Class, but it's a rare soul who reaches that status. Each one will help you determine what weapon works best for you.” He gave her a side eye and focused on the energy from her. She possessed a heart on her left sleeve—which meant she was a hero—but facing her gave him the same feeling as when he stood near Tiny Box Tim, Google, or Mark. More prevalently toward the latter. “Are you sure you're not in a class yet?”

“Pretty positive, yeah. I just got here.”

He stared at her as though daring a snake to strike.

Her attempt at conviviality faded when his demeanor darkened. Suddenly, she felt like this was a man she didn't want to run into at night in the dream world.

“Hm. Take this dagger, for instance—my newest creation,” Wilford balanced it by the hilt on his fingertip. “It's lightweight, useful across all classes, and,” his wrist flicked, sending the weapon like an arrow across the room and through the edge of Sun's scarf, pinning her to the wall by the door. “it will never deviate from its path.”

She let out a short gasp and squeal of fear. Her heart slammed into her ribcage, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Her hands trembled.

“Wilford!” Mark barged into the weaponry, not even noticing Sun pinned to the wall by the blade through her scarf like a butterfly. He stormed up to the desk and slammed the silver dagger on the counter. “Where the _hell_ did you get a weapon capable of inflicting serious damage on a Somni?”

“Trade secrets.”

“Cut the bullshit. I'm not in the mood.”

“Having a rough day?”

His dark eyes narrowed. “You will tell me where you got it.”

Wilford's jovial tone vanished. “Invoking your power. How rare of you.”

“I will restrict your movements to this room alone.”

“You wouldn't dare. You need me.”

“Do you want to be suppressed? Because that's how you get suppressed.”

Wilford leaned over into his face. “You wouldn't last a day with me knocking around in your subconscious.”

“Don't think I won't do it.”

“You don't have the brass. I left you for a reason, Mark. You enjoyed killing Terrorlings, because I enjoyed it,” he giggled. “Stabbing, and watching them run. Oh, ho, ho. A bully of a time, indeed.”

“You want to test that theory, Colonel? Go right ahead.”

“No need for threats, son. 'Calm your tits,' as you're fond of saying.” Wilford shoved Mark's hand away and picked up the dagger. “This little beauty is one of my greatest creations. The dream world is vast. There are treasures hidden out there that we don't yet know of. I came across a rare dream material and seized the opportunity to create something extraordinarily remarkable.”

“How long ago?”

“I don't see how that's relevant—“

“Suppression in five...four...three—”

“All right! Six months ago. Does that satisfy you?”

Mark let out a quick breath and dropped his concentration.

Wilford brushed at his shirt where it had started to glitch from Mark's mental effort. “I haven't seen you this angry since I killed you last time. You ran in fear afterward. If you're mad enough to confront me and disregard that butt-clenching terror, that means you've used this dagger already.” His gaze slipped to Sun. “Perhaps...on her?”

Mark's followed suite and his eyes widened. He'd been too consumed by his desire for an answer from Wilford that he'd ignored the 'ping' telling him she was there. “Sun?” Titisticks, she'd heard everything.

“Um...I gotta go...” Frightened, Sun yanked the dagger out of the wall and ran from the room.

“Shit,” he cursed. He spun on Wilford. “What did you do to her?”

Wilford spun the rare weapon in his hand. “I was simply testing out a new toy. You forbid me from harming anyone here without their permission, so I demonstrated its craftsmanship from a distance.”

“We need to work on your people skills.”

“A person who's not even a Hero Class with a Somni in her head waltzes into my shop, and you expect me to be complacent about it?” he huffed behind his pink mustache. “If you think I wouldn't notice that tiny detail, you're a bigger idiot than I took you for.”

“You can tell, huh?” Mark's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“I spent enough time roomed up with Gloom and Doom to know what that feels like, yes. For a moment when my back was turned, I'd thought you'd walked in the room with someone. Imagine my shock to find it was just a random girl.” He leaned forward. “Why is that, Markiboy?”

“I don't know. Sounds to me like your radar is broken.”

“Not likely.”

The two stared each other down for a moment: one testing the other to see who would flinch first. Neither moved.

“I originally sold this weapon to you just in case that dark pit-stain lurking behind your eyes made an appearance. Looks like it came in handy—just not for its intended target.”

Mark pointed at him. “Stay away from her until I bring her in here.”

Wilford felt his willpower usurped by Mark's control. He had no choice but to comply. “You're acting strange, even for you. Why are you so protective of this girl?”

He kept his voice low yet firm. “We just saved her life a couple of days ago, and you yeeting daggers at her is the opposite of helping.”

“She'll wake up. Don't get your Jims in a jam.”

“No she won't. She's in a coma.”

“Oh,” His eyebrows raised with piqued interest. “Well, that's a new turn of events. If she's harmed here, it may be the same as if she's harmed in your world. I doubt she'd die. She might simply black out. Fascinating. I'd like to test this by—“

“No.”

He grumbled like a child denied candy. “Suit yourself. Hm...'Saved her life,'” he repeated, mulling over the words like a scientist going over his latest findings. “Not in the same manner as all the others, I suspect. Perhaps,” he locked the human spirit dead in his sites, “in the way that you couldn't save Ben's?”

Mark held up his hand. “Don't.” Wilford hadn't formed at that time, so the memory of it existed.

“I see. Well, I'm glad you finally found closure. How did you do it?” Part of his madness came from the guilt and self-blame Mark carried from witnessing the tragedy he was helpless to prevent. “Curiosity killed the cat, but I enjoy courting its dance.”

“That's for me to know, and for you to never find out.”

“If you ever make good on your threat of suppression, I will find out.” He caught the dagger and angled it at the human spirit that created him. “Her Somni is weak, but it will regain its power.”

He swiped the dagger back. “I'm teaching her how to control it, and you're an asshole.” He marched away.

“Keep that dagger with you, boy,” Wilford called after him calmly. “You never know what might bring out the worst in her. Or you.”

“Your concern is noted and appreciated.” Mark said as he left.

Wilford picked up a mace and spun it in the air, catching it easily. He knew Mark was strong enough, but even he couldn't avoid worrying. After all, the darkness had taken control once, and Wilford had disappeared. Yet to think that young man had entered his shop when it was someone else entirely was a mistake that he could never make. The why of it had him perplexed. It just didn't happen.

Mark spotted her sitting against the far wall adjacent to the library door, next to a potted plant and looking like she was trying to hide behind it. “Hey,” he sat down next to her. “You ok?”

She pulled her knees up into the circle of her arms and stared at a series of cracks along the floor beneath her feet. They stretched up along the wall behind her. “I'm sorry. I know you said not to go in there, but...”

“You got curious.”

She nodded.

“That's my downfall with every horror game I play. I tell myself not to go into the dark scary place, but then I go into the dark scary place.”

“Who was that?”

“That's Wilford Warfstache. I talked to him. He won't do that again.”

She exhaled to calm down. “He listens to you?”

“Sometimes.” Mark watched a group of people chatting to each other as they walked up to the stage area out of sight. He glanced to her, then sighed, knowing her next question. “The three Somni here—Tim, Google, and Warfstache...belong to me.”

Sun stared at him. “You have four? How?”

He brought his knees up, crossing his feet at the ankles. “Dark's the only one contained. The others have some level of free will. Tim is the most self-aware of the three—he's basically his own person. He's my first Somni, and the one I trust the most.”

“Oh. Nobody else has them, right?”

“In this hub?” He shook his head. “Nope. It's just me,” he tilted his head slightly, “and now you.”

“There are other places like this?”

“Maybe thousands, hundreds of thousands. There's no way to know.”

“Why us?” She rested her chin on her arms over her knees. “Why do we have to deal with this?”

He didn't answer. Regarding her situation, he didn't have a clear answer, and regarding himself, he wasn't ready for her to think of him as anything other than just another person in this hub.

They sat up against the wall in silence watching the light foot traffic. Mark shifted slightly. “I should put a beanbag here or something.”

“Hey,” Sun began, “can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Back in the tower when you pretended to be Dark, is that what he’s really like?”

“Pretty much, yeah.

“He's kind of a dick.”

“To be fair, Shadow's kind of a bitch.”

“No argument there.” She took a deep breath. “I'm going to be honest. He...you scared me. I was terrified by what she made me feel. And when I thought you'd given in, I wanted to scream. I thought I'd lost you to it, and I didn't want it anywhere near me. But what you did was all an act. You're damned good.”

“I did what I had to.” He could accept her fear, though, and empathized with it. He didn't like Dark, either. “If you're careful, you can tap into it.” He stopped her next predictable thought. “Don't do that with Shadow, though. You're nowhere near ready for that yet.”

“Wasn't that dangerous to do with Dark?”

“Nah, I was fine. Might have been a little dangerous. Maybe.” He wouldn't tell her that there was a moment where he'd felt Dark rattle his cage. That Somni knew he was still recovering—the cracked surfaces of the hub were proof of that. He wouldn't have even attempted that move after his nightmare.

During the silence, the whispered influence of Shadow played in the back of her mind. She shut her eyes against it and lowered her head. _You're an idiot. You're a fool. They're not your friends. They're placating you. They—_

“Hey,” Mark touched her shoulder and spoke strongly enough to cut through the noise. “Don't listen to it. It's trying to get under your skin.”

She looked up. “How did you know?”

It wasn't subtle to him, and since they used that extreme procedure to save her life, he could more easily tell when she started struggling. “I know what to look for.”

She ran her right hand through her hair and straightened up. “How do you deal with it? How do you go on knowing it's there?”

He gave her his most sincere response. “I hold on to the things that matter,”

She listened.

Mark leaned forward and draped his arms over his knees. “It's not easy. I'm not gonna lie to you.”

Her voice softened, making her question as delicate as possible. “What happened to you?”

He let out a long breath, pursed his lips, and spoke. “Dark took control over a month ago. He knew how to get to me by taking everything I'd ignored and forcing it to the surface. I shouldn't have gone into Blue's nightmare to get her back, but I'm an idiot. I sent them back and took on the horde of Terrorlings myself. I fought with everything I had until I started wondering if anyone would come back to get me. They didn't. I couldn't escape. I'd failed. I was too weak to fight off the Demonling that latched onto Dark, and the lock broke. He took his time wearing me down until he was strong enough to completely suppress me. Blue's team was the one that rescued me from my nightmare and fought him. I tried telling them to get out, but they wouldn't leave. I lost the fight, and like you, I became helpless to stop him from using me. I felt...trapped. And that terrified me. I hated feeling like that, but I couldn't get past him. He almost won, but they got through to me and I defeated the Demonling.”

“That's recent.”

“Yeah. I was forced to face things I was shutting away for a long time after that. I didn't want to get out of bed, or do my job, but I did. When I slept, I'd come here, but even then I couldn't escape it. I envied everyone who could forget.”

She remained silent, simply listening.

Something about that let the words tumble out, and before he knew it, he couldn't stop them. Part of him wondered why. The other part said 'shut up. You need this.'

He exhaled. “My life is kind of complicated. I enjoy what I do, but sometimes I feel like everything I have... I don't deserve it. That feeling of raw creativity, that feeling of not knowing what's around the corner...that's amazing. And the people who are influenced by what I do...they matter.”

She let a pause live between them as people in the hub—all bearing the pink mark of the hero—moved casually around them on their own journeys and their own lives with just as much history behind each of them.

“I'm afraid,” Mark muttered softly.

Sun turned to look at him, though he remained facing forward.

“I'm afraid of knowing that I've been doing what I do for so long that I've lost even the possibility of feeling that again. One of the hardest realities about my job is that I can't be there for everyone. And you get stuck in this weird loop where if you can't please everybody, then you have a tough time pleasing anybody.”

The cracks on the floor at his feet began to seal. She glanced to them, then back to him, but he didn't seem to notice.

“Then I remembered some advice given to me a while ago: You don't owe anybody anything. Simply existing doesn't mean you have a debt to pay to the universe to exist. I know that sounds pretty surface, but it's hard to get through. It's so easy to compare yourself to others who are doing better than you are, and you think you have to be that good, that you owe it to yourself. And you don't. That's a horrible way of thinking. When you're trying to meet the expectations of someone else, you're letting yourself down. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone except yourself. So, I don't. When I hear that voice, this is the advice I remember. When no one believed in me, I kept going, because I was at the bottom. I didn't want to look down. If there was something below that, I didn't want to see it. All I could do was look up. So I kept going every day, because every day was a little bit better. I couldn't give up. It's not in my nature to give up.”

He watched the light business of the hub. “I've heard people say I've saved them, and I still doubt that—I'm just a guy. But, really, everyone here—my team, you... you saved me. I just want you to know that.”

How could she respond to that? The answer was simple: she couldn't. He wasn't looking for advice or an answer. This was her friend needing someone to simply listen.

For some reason, at the back of this hall by the potted plant, in the most odd place they could find where she originally hid from her fear, he trusted her enough to open up about one of his.

The cracks mended slowly together on the wall behind them. A fist sized hole in front of the plant gradually filled itself in.

Finally, she smiled slightly. “Out there, in your waking life, are you a doctor?”

“Heh,” he broke himself away from the serious moment. “No. I'm not a doctor. I played a video game with a doctor in it once. Does that count?”

She snorted. “I'm gonna go with hard 'nope' on that one.”

“I happen to have almost-not-really saved the guy in that game as an amazing surgeon.” He stiffened his back. “But my spine is telling me I really should put a beanbag here or something.”

Everything he'd suffered through to save her flashed through her mind, and his words returned. “I thought I was going to die in that tower. Even after you gave me your life energy to keep me from dying, I still don't know how I survived.”

“You didn’t give up. You chose to live.”

“I didn’t know what would happen if I plugged in the bulb. I just thought if anything in that world was real in the past year, then it deserved to live. Even if there was no saving me, I didn't want to take anyone else down with me,” She exhaled. “Stupid, huh.”

“You didn't know it was a dream. To you, all of this is reality.”

“So what happens now?”

“Now? You need to become strong enough so you can wake up on your own.”

“How?” she whispered.

  
He could sense how lost she felt, how raw and alone. Something pulled within his chest –that pink energy unseen in the connection between them.  “I don't know, but we'll figure it out together.”

Her eyes drifted to the dagger in her hand. The lights of the hallway glinted off its polished surface. She didn't want to tell him that if waking up meant she forgot about the team, she wouldn't do it. “I have to take this back, don't I. Damn. I don't want to go near there. Mistakes were made.”

“Keep it. Just add it to your inventory.”

“Like a backpack or something?” She grimaced at her own stupidity. “It's that window I've seen people pull up, huh.”

Mark swiped his index finger through the air, calling up his menu. “Everyone who's a part of this hub has one. Go ahead and give it a try.”

She brushed her finger through the air as he did, but nothing happened. Two more tries gained the same results.

“You have to will it. If it helps, you can say 'menu,' or just think it. Most people quickly get to the point where they can feel it.”

Sun held out her hand again, thought the word _menu_ as she swiped down, and gasped lightly when a white screen appeared at chest level. She tapped on each category, though they were empty—no surprise there. “Cool.”

Mark noticed hers only had 'Items,' 'Current Mission,' and 'Party,' which was unsettling, since everyone else had the option of 'Wake Up' listed directly below 'Items.' She didn't even have that last resort option to escape danger in the dream world. For the time being, Sun was truly trapped here.

And if Wilford was on to something, without a 'Go Home' transporter like he had, she couldn't even escape to the Hub. If they lost her out there, she'd have no way back home. He made a mental note to talk to Google about giving her a 'Go Home' option if possible.

She held up the dagger. “So, how do I add it?”

“Here.” He took her right hand and used her finger to tap the 'Items' tab, then the 'weapons' sub category. He moved her finger to tap 'add' and the item disappeared. Its icon winked to life simultaneously in the first slot. He let her go.

“Nice. Thanks, but,” She looked curiously at him. “was there a reason you didn't just show me?”

“Yup. A big one. Watch.” He reached over and touched the 'items' list on her window.

It turned blue—showing it was selected—and brought up the drop down list.

He couldn't look more confused if he tried. “What the fuck?” He tried again with the other options. Each one responded in kind. “How the fuck?”

“What?”

“This isn't supposed to happen.”

“Did you break my menu? Dude, I just got it.”

“I didn't break anything. It's common knowledge that you can't manipulate someone else's menu. You can't even touch it,” he explained. “It's a part of you.” He closed the 'Items' option. “This should be impossible.”

Curious, Sun reached over tentatively and tapped the 'Party' button on his menu. It opened up to show a list of the team's names and their class title with Blue at the top next to 'Leader.'

He closed the tab quickly before she could see his class status. He didn't know if she knew about Hero Class, but didn't want to take any risks.

She lightly touched the 'items' on his and a drop down of sub categories appeared. “There's never been a case like this?”

“No. I don't know what the hell is going on here.”

They looked to their windows, then to each other and said in tandem, “Weird.”

“Hey guys!” Blue waved as she jogged down the hall.

Both closed their windows.

“Jade just showed up. We're all waiting for you at the portal. Hey, Sun,” she grinned. “I'm glad to see you out of the infirmary. How are you?”

“Better. I just needed some fresh air,” Sun said. “I'm going to explore a little more. Maybe spend time in the library reading up on this world.”

“Purple will love you more for being a nerd,” Blue nodded. “So, how do you like the hub so far?”

“It's big. But it feels safe,” she glanced around. “What are all the holes and cracks, though? Are there earthquakes in the dream world?”

Blue cleared her throat. “Um...that's kind of involved.”

“Involved how?”

“Well, this place is sort of linked to...” she glanced to Mark and clammed up when the memory of the other night flared in her mind—specifically his and Sun's wordless bonding moment. She got the sense that he may not want her to know all the details about himself and his connection to the hub yet. “Hey, have you been into the shop yet and met Octodad?”

“Not yet.”

“Go check it out while we're gone. I promise he's only a little creepy at first, but he's really nice.” Blue offered her hand to help her up as Mark got to his feet. She gave Sun a quick hug. “I need to tell you what happened at school today. It's this really funny pun that Peach hates, but Jade couldn't stop laughing at.”

“Tell me when you get back?” Sun hugged her back. “I love puns...I think. I don't know. I guess I'll find out.”

“Totally.” Blue turned to her team mate. “Have you checked out the mission briefing?”

“Tch. Me? Not check? Of course I've checked. I am so golden, Midas is jealous.”

She folded her arms. “You didn't look at the briefing, did you.”

“I looked. I just got distracted with handling business in the Weaponry.”

Blue sighed. “It's a platformer. How good are you at jumping?”

“Fuck me,” Mark cursed. “Depends on the game.”

“Get good, Mark. We've got a princess to save in another castle,” Blue sassed. She waved to Sun. “See you later.”

“Bye. Be careful out there.” She stood and followed at a distance and watched them interact.

“Red's still on the front line. He's a dancer, so he has the highest chance of making the long jumps. Purple and Peach are keeping us all tethered together so we don't fall into a pit of death.”

“Solid plan,” Mark reached the group. “Hey, do me a favor and open your menu for a sec.”

She did so, but arched her eyebrow when he put his hand through it trying to touch a tab. “Hey, genius. You're the one who told us that doesn't work.”

“Testing a theory. Nevermind.” He'd talk to Google and Tim about it when he got back. That may have just been a double fluke.

The portal opened up.

“Hey,” Red waved lightly to Sun behind everybody, then addressed his team mate. “So, did Blue fill you in?”

“Yeah. Which reminds me,” he turned to her. “We need to talk about your tactics.”

Blue pointed at him. “Good idea. You should work on a landing strategy.”

“I...That is not what I meant, and you know it!”

“I get to be Mario!” Jade jumped through.

“You're short and annoying. You can be Toad,” Red stepped through,

“No way!” Blue bolted in. “I call Mario! Dibs!”

“Mark's short. He can be Mario,” Peach snickered and jumped in before her friend could let her have it about his height. “I get to be Princess Peach!”

“Oh no. You are not getting away with that!” Mark charged through.

Purple waved to Sun and jumped in as the last one. “I'm the best one. Luigi!”

She watched them go, then turned and headed back toward the library. Someday she would be strong enough to go through that portal into the world that claimed her for a year. For now, she needed to focus on healing. She'd have to ask Tim later about the menu situation.

She rubbed at the ache in the nape of her back. That wall definitely needed beanbags or something.

 

\----------

TBC

 


	13. Epilogue: Ad Infinitum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sun is faced with an important decision.

_2 weeks later...and two new beanbag chairs at the end of the hallway..._

 

Mark grabbed her by the hand and pulled her behind him. “It's been two weeks, Sun. We're doing this.”

She pried at his fingers, but his grip was too strong. “No, no! You can't make me!”

“In and out, easy-peasy. Think happy thoughts and relax,” He rolled his eyes.

“I will not relax! You relax, you jerk! I'm not doing this!”

“The first time's always the hardest for everyone,” Purple assured her. “I remember being really scared, too.”

“You have to take this step at some point, Sun,” Peach said from her right. “You can't avoid him forever.”

“Yes, I can! I am not going back in there!”

Red pushed her from behind. “We'll buy whatever you need.”

“I don't need anything! I'm fine!”

“It'll be fun!” Blue took hold of her other hand as she walked next to Mark. “You can pick out whatever weapon you want. You'll pick a class. It'll be like Christmas when you were little.”

“I don't remember being little! I was never a smol!” Sun tried to dig her feet into the stone floor in futility.

“You were probably really cute as a kid,” Purple giggled.

Jade stayed to the left to make sure she couldn't break away and escape. “If you're going to go on a mission, you need a weapon. Stop being a little cry baby about it.”

“I'm good. I'm ok. I don't need a weapon,” her voice hitched in fear. “Please let me go.”

“You'll be fine,” Blue held on tightly through Sun's attempts to flee. “We can probably get Wilford to custom make something for you. What do you like? Swords? Hammers? A staff? We have to figure out your fighting style, too, which means we can hit the training room next. This is going to be so much fun!”

“Fine, if you want to get me something, get me a frying pan, I don't care, but let me go!” Sun felt her short life flash before her eyes. Her end lay in that Weaponry she'd managed to avoid for two weeks. “Sun dot exe has stopped working!”

“Stop complaining and just suck it up already,” Red groaned.

Despite her struggles and cries for mercy echoing through the hub's main room, the six of her closest friends were too strong for her. “You guys are the worst!”

 

* * * *

They got her a frying pan.

Albeit a very cool looking frying pan that wasn't heavy at all, but packed a punch.

And she now held the title 'Defender.'

Sun sat on the back of the stage with the group in front of the barren wall waiting for the portal to activate to their current mission destination. She wasn't technically part of the team—her 'Party' menu option still remained blank. This was her test. So far, she'd manage to survive a second encounter with Wilford Warfstache. For some reason, Mark remained between her and Wilford for most of that time. He didn't make it obvious, but she'd noticed. To be honest, she was too scared to ask why, and genuinely appreciated it.

The portal grew from its pinprick center, swirling outward in a second until it was wide enough to encompass two people side by side.

“Are you ready, Sun?” Purple took her hand and tugged so the older girl would have to stand up.

She exhaled heavily and nodded once.

“Then let's go!” Red smiled.

Jade grabbed his arm. “Hold it. Why are you in such a good mood? It's not right. Something's wrong.”

Red pealed away each of their fingers. “My boyfriend took me out to dinner tonight. I'm in a good mood despite you taking up my air space.”

Jade mocked him, then stepped aside and waited for him to go through. Seeing Red smile actually felt good. They were happy their friend had gone to sleep with a light heart. Maybe for tonight, they'd go easy on him. Though both knew and accepted that this was how their friendship worked.

Peach and Purple looked back at Sun and smiled. “We'll be waiting on the other side for you,” Peach said, then jumped through.

Blue looked to Mark and nodded. She held her hand out. Sun took it to be lead closer to the portal, though Blue let it slide from her fingers. No one could pull her through. This was completely different from the Weaponry. She had to take this first step herself.

Mark stood in front of the portal after his team leader jumped through. The vortex gave off a vignette of light behind him like a star burst. “The portal won't stay open for long. You have to make a decision.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “You're not alone anymore, Sun. I believe in you. I know you can do this.”

She watched him step through and bit her lip. He'd left her with the one phrase that saved her.

She faced the portal with the frying pan gripped tightly in her right hand.

Would she be able to go through with it? Could she face down the Terrorlings on the other side with the same bravery and confidence as those who saved her, and those who continually entered this dream world Einstein-Rosen bridge every night? All to save the hearts of people they didn't even know? They'd given her her life back. Even though she was trapped in a coma in the dream world, they'd given a part of themselves to make sure she lived. What she did with her new life was up to her.

The portal flickered. Over the past couple of weeks, she'd learned that this meant it would collapse at any second.

She still feared she would lose her memory of her friends if she woke up. She loved them, each and every one of them, but she wouldn't let fear hold her back anymore. No matter what happened, the truth remained: they would always be with her.

With her heart pounding loudly in her ears, and her body trembling, Sun's hand tightened around the handle of the frying pan. She would become strong enough to wake up on her own.

She needed to yeet like her soul depended on it. Sun swallowed hard, terrified, and willed her right foot forward. Then her left. Her feet became lead weights. One after the other, she walked into the abyss of the anomaly. The portal closed behind her and lead her to an unknown dream where her friends waited.

They would save the light of someone who needed them.

Together.

 

 

 

The End of Sun's old story.

And the Beginning of her new life.

 

 

“Confidence isn't the absence of insecurity. It's knowing you have real worth despite it.”

~Mark Fischbach

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note from the author: Thank you for staying with me on this journey, and for following the team and Sun. 
> 
> I sincerely hope this brought you entertainment and joy. All the love to the devs of Hearts and Heroes, and to Markiplier for being such an inspiration for many, and of course, you the reader, the Markiplites, the heroes. You ALL matter. You are ALL worth something. Thank you, all of you, for everything. 
> 
> I believe in you. You can do this. 
> 
> Now go do the thing.


End file.
